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Where can I donate books?
By brendan | March 20, 2009
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One of the most common questions we get from customers and booksellers alike is “where can I donate my used books?” So, I thought I’d take a moment to offer some suggestions for the bibliophile looking to lighten his or her shelves.
Donating your books can be a wonderful way to make a difference to a non-profit organization, even when the purse strings are tight (aren’t everyone’s these days?).
But, first things first – please make note of this very important rule for donating used books:
If you wouldn’t want them on your living room shelves, very likely nobody else will either!
If you can describe a book as moldy, stinky, torn, pages missing, ragged or just plain icky, please don’t make it someone else’s problem. You might as well bring them your kitchen garbage as a donation, too!
Recycle paperbacks them by simply taking them to a paper recycling center as-is; for hardcovers, you must first rip off the covers and throw them away and recycle the text block (the book that remains after you’ve taken off the covers and spine).
Once you’ve culled the mold, there are plenty of organizations that are always in need of books (in good shape!) for their programs. Some ideas you might want to check in to locally might include (listed in no order of preference):
- Homeless shelters. Especially womens’ shelters, as there are often kids staying with their mom’s. Good childrens’ books are almost always welcome. You might check with the staff at the shelter first to make sure they don’t have any specific restrictions on the types of books they don’t want.
- Prisons. Your local detention center or prison may be a great place to donate some books. Note, though: be certain to check with them about their requirements for donations. Most likely, they will not want hardcover books, and will be very stringent about the subject matter.
- Local schools. Your local elementary or secondary school often needs books for students learning to read. However, they are going to have specific books they are looking for. Ask a teacher or administrator for a wishlist of books that they need for their classroom, and donate any that might apply. You could also check with area pre-schools.
- Friends of the Library. Most likely, your local library system has a friends of the library organization that works to raise money for the library through the sale of used books at regular library book sales. They will generally welcome books of all subject matters in nice condition.
- Local thrift stores. This includes Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill and Salvation Army in addition to smaller charity run thrift shops that may be benefiting specific needs in your community. They will generally sell the books you donate to raise money for their respective causes, so be certain that you believe in the cause they support (and be certain they are a non-profit group; there are a number of thrift stores that are purely for-profit enterprises).
- Hospitals. Believe it or not, your local hospital will likely appreciate small book donations here and there, to share with folks who are there for an extended stay. Check with the administration first, of course.
If you’re not able to find a local cause to donate your books to, there are a couple of places that accept book donations shipped to them (although because of the cost of shipping, donating to a local cause is almost always going to be the most efficient way to “invest” your books):
- Books For Soldiers. This non-profit group helps you get books into the hands of U.S. troops overseas. You will have to submit an application and be approved to ship books this way.
- Books for Africa. A great organization that works to build libraries and schools in Africa. Textbooks in English and French are always welcome, but so are nearly any other books in reasonable condition.
- Better World Books. Better World Books is not actually a non-profit – they are a for-profit company, but partner with various charitable causes to help raise money. When you send books to them, they will sell them for prices ranging from $0.01 and up, and will generally share 30% of the revenue with a non-profit of your choice. Books that they can’t use are recycled.
For awhile, BiblioWorks (the 501c3 education and literacy non-profit that Biblio.com founded) was accepting book donations, but that is no longer the case.
I’m certain there are others in this category, but those are the one I’m familiar with at the moment – if you know of others, make sure and drop us a comment, so we can include them!
Topics: MIGRATED TO BIBLIO | 38 Comments »
May 17th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
check out http://www.bridgeofbooksfoundation.org
May 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
If you’re in the New England area, there is a service called “Got Books?” that will pick them up at your home for free and has drop-of locations.
Check out http://www.gotbooks.com
June 15th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
If your in Central Florida, please donate childrens books to Recyled Reading! We will pick them up at your home and they will be distributed back into the community.
Contact us through:
RecyledReadingOrlando@gmail.com
July 15th, 2009 at 12:01 am
When you donate a book, list it here http://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=127433 by clicking on the ADD button. If you put a unique note or sticker in the book (a la bookcrossing) you may be able to track the book in the future. You can also “balance out” the book you read and donated by planting a tree if you visit http://www.Eco-Libris.net. When you balance it out, tell them you also listed it and tagged it on fromREADtoGREEN.com
August 17th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
[...] your bookcase to figure out which kinds of books you want to read more of and which you can donate (read here to learn more about where you can donate books). Want to study more by your desk than the couch? Clean up your desk space so that it’s the [...]
October 6th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I am a librarian at Libala High School. Book Aid International stopped donating books to Zambian schools in particular. The reasons best known to BAI. The children are at a loss for trusting Book International or the question is should students suffer because of the inefficiency of Zambia Library Service. Please come to the aid of the pupils. As Libala High School through the Ministry of Education we can link up and afford Zambia Library Service, we can even link up with other schools more especially in the rural area to receive your wonderful donations. We as Libala High School value the assistance we were receiving. Wye Valley usually sends materials to the school so BAI can link up
December 10th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
[...] plan for salvaging and separating children’s books, categorizing them and boxing them so you can donate them to kids who could use them. There are several places you could donate used books that redistribute them to [...]
December 21st, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Adrian, I’m in the process of setting up a non-profit that gets books to schools in Africa. I would be happy to talk to you about how we could help.
January 30th, 2010 at 3:14 am
have lots of books to donate..where should i donate them other than goodwill?
March 29th, 2010 at 3:03 am
Check out http://www.gskool.com/new
You can donate your books there.
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:59 am
[...] other places to donate are homeless shelters, local schools, and hospitals. Over at For the love of books they have a discussion of this very topic. Some of their commentors can give you ideas on things in [...]
May 1st, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Very interesting post, I learned about some new resources. Thank you very much
June 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
What about a Kindle? I have received one through a drawing, but cannot keep it for Ethics reasons – and as such must donate it.
Do you think any non-profits could use a Kindle (with no ebooks on it)?
August 10th, 2010 at 10:30 am
[...] More ideas for purging and appreciating:) books HERE and HERE. [...]
August 30th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
[...] toys, books, clothes and other items. Here’s a great consolidated list of places to donate books. Below are a few more to consider. (Not all of them accept used books as donations, but they [...]
September 21st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
please donate books to Philippines, the library we have here has 1990 books as the latest… we are in dire need of new good books. the public library doesn’t have even one harry potter book. please contact me for your donations.
October 13th, 2010 at 11:33 am
If you’re in Los Angeles, the best and easiest way to donate is through http://www.booksforpeople.org. They pick up any donation over 2 boxes for free! And your donations raise money to tutor homeless kids. My family has used them several times and they’re really great.
November 5th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Please donate childrens story books, magazines, textbooks. I belong to a women’s group and we would like to start a mobile library for children in the neighbourhood. There is not a single library in the neighbourhood and we would like to develop a reading culture among the children. Most of these children come from poor families which can barely afford a single meal a day. This mobile library would be a great source of information and knowledge for these underprivileged kids. Most of these kids love to read but cannot afford books of their own. Any kind of books u can donate will go a long way.
Thanks
December 10th, 2010 at 2:04 am
I was interested in some ideas of where I can donate my older (2000 – 2006), but VERY lightly used university texts. I am in Canada and I was wanting to send them through a Christian organization and bless a 2nd or 3rd world country struggling to get such texts in their university libraries or high school libraries.
January 6th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
[...] more tips on donating books, check this out. [Link to [...]
January 11th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I am a public librarian. Our library has only more than 1 thousand books so far. It needs more book and non-book materials. Hope some organizations or individuals could donate books to our library. We would appreciate it very much. Here’s the address:
Sta. Rita Municipal Library,
Real St., Santan, Sta. Rita, Samar,
Philippines 6718
January 26th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
You can donate any book to books4cause.com and they will find a home for it. They run book donation drives nationally on college campuses They will pick up books at your home or office. If you are located in Chicago you can also drop off your donation.
February 5th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
In Chile (southamerica) I go to the flea market and buy used books from the US. They are really cheap compared to books in Spanish sold in local stores.
Thanks to those books I have been able to improve my English.
I used to teach at a local university and most of the textbooks I used were bought there.
February 6th, 2011 at 2:53 am
I have children, teen as well as young adult books in good to great condition and want to donate to a group that will appreciate them… I cannot afford to ship. Please advise.
February 12th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Another great way to donate books is through The Kenyan Promise http://www.thekenyanpromise.org
It’s a great non-profit that help to provide basic resources needed for learning, including books, uniforms and building improvements.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:53 am
heart for children community resource centre requires book donated to them to support education of orphans and vulnerable children educational needs
March 15th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Hello, I have college tExt books from late 1997 – 2000, along with other great bookS. I would like to donate them, but I live in the Chicago area. Are you aware of someone who can pick them up. There is over 100 books. Thanks
AKIBA GRACE ZAKAI
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:43 pm
I don’t understand why the youth today are not much into reading because books are so great, but if you do want to donate books for others to enjoy I guess you can also go to your local churches and give them the books. I’m sure they’ll know where the books will be needed.
July 5th, 2011 at 2:04 am
It needs more book and non-book materials. Hope some organizations or individuals could donate books to our library.This mobile library would be a great source of information and knowledge for these underprivileged kids. Most of these kids love to read but cannot afford books of their own. Any kind of books u can donate will go a long way.
July 12th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Most books donated to libraries don’t seem to make it into the libraries’ lending collections. Instead, donated books are often sold by friends of the library groups to raise money for library programs and services. These sales are valuable to the libraries, and they provide low-cost reading material for the community.
July 13th, 2011 at 4:08 am
Books are very important. This contributes a lot to our learning. With this we happen to know thing we were not able to forget somehow. A 8very useful material indeed!
July 13th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
I hope they will be provided with books because there are certain part of the countries who really lack this materials.
July 17th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
I love to read book, especially those that adds knowledge to my career. For me. books are really important to gain leanings and new things.
July 19th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Please, am in Tanzania. We are registered NGO, we are looking for the books or any other learning materials, in order to support and save vurnable children.
please email me. childprospective@yahoo.com
August 29th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Please donate children story books, magazines, textbooks, reference books, history etc.
we are building a children’s library in every state in Nigeria and we would like to develop a reading culture among the children.
This library will be a great source of information for these underprivileged kids.
These kids loves to kids but cannot afford books of their own.
Any kinds of books you donate will go a long way in achieve this purpose.
Thanks
Nguzo
September 27th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
RN started accepting Medical/Nursing Textbooks from a local University Bookstore. At first had no idea where I’d send them. Now, have so many interested non-profits in Africa I’m soliciting for more donations. I cannot pay for shipping but perhaps my non-profits can do so. They sometimes have containers they are filling up on port cities. Medical/Nursing Texts only. Thanks.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
[...] Where can I donate books? | for.theloveofbooks.comMar 20, 2009 Donating your books can be a wonderful way to make a difference to a non-profit organization, even [...]
October 25th, 2011 at 10:25 am
[...] by donating your already read books to charities or establishments. Here is a site that lists where to donate your books and here is a charity that is always in need of [...]