There is a reason for giving away things you may no longer need. It will make you happy. It will also make someone else happy, too. While it’s great to sell used things and get extra cash, you do way more than that when you donate books to charity. In this article, we’ll cover the reasons why you may consider the idea and how to do it in the best way possible.
- Reasons Why to Donate Books to Charity
- Things to Consider before You Donate Books to Charity
- Book Condition Recommendations
- What Books to Donate
- Where Do Your Donated Books Go?
Reasons Why to Donate Books to Charity
Other People Can Get Access to Books
When you donate books to charity, you give them a new life and audience: other people can read them, too. You’re basically passing on a story; it’ll be opened by someone else, maybe by many people. For instance, it’s not just your kids who will remember the story but other kids, too. Probably those who either can’t afford or is unable to get the books in any other way.
You Declutter
That’s more about doing some good for yourself rather than for other people, but it doesn’t mean the reason isn’t good. When you make time to sort your books, sell some of them, and donate or recycle/throw away the rest, you’ll immediately feel how the atmosphere of your space changes.
You Free Up Space for New Books
Sounds contradicting, right? Yet, if you’re a book lover and can’t stop bringing new books home, donating some of your collection helps you maintain the balance. You give away the books you’ve read and are now free to buy new ones. An ideal scenario.
You’re Being Eco-Friendly
Second-hand book reselling, donating, and recycling books are definitely the very things that you can do to stay green and follow sustainability principles.
You’re Doing Something Small but Really Good
By donating your books to charity, you’re not only finding them a new home but are also providing a charitable organization with the material for their money-raising activities. All charities don’t just do what they do for fun; they help people with things other than books, and these things can only be purchased for money. One of the ways charities can find funding is by selling the books you donate to them. Surely, yours will be a tiny contribution, but if it helps anyone, it’s definitely worth it.
Things to Consider before You Donate Books to Charity
So, here’re your books that have been collecting dust in the attic for years. Before you take them anywhere, there’re a few things you should do:
Do some research regarding the charities you can donate your books to. Whichever you choose, contact them about their dotation policy. While such organizations as Goodwill accept almost everything, check if there are any specific requirements and particular times when donations are accepted. Some places used to accept donations in the past, but for many reasons, and especially after the pandemic, they may no longer do so. If you don’t check such things in advance, you’ll only waste your time. Don’t bring your boxes to the places where you’ve specifically been told they won’t be accepted. You’ll only inconvenience other people, who’ll have to think about what to do with your books and may simply throw them away.
In this article, we’re not going to make a detailed overview of the book charities in the US. However, we’ll give you a list and a link to one of our earlier blog posts—Top Book Charities in the US: Transform Lives Through Reading—where you can read all about the charity options in the US and choose the one you like the most.
- Room To Read
- World Literacy Foundation
- National Center For Families Learning
- United Through Reading
- Project Night Night
- Worldreader
- Proliteracy
- The Pajama Program
- 826 National
- Literacy For Incarcerated Teens
- Reading Is Fundamental
- Books For Africa
- Reading Partners
- First Book
- Children’s Literacy Initiative
- Everybody Wins!
- Read Ahead
- Ferst Readers
- Reach Out And Read
- Little Free Library
- Waterbridge Outreach
Book Condition Recommendations
When we think about donating books to charity, the first thing that comes to mind may be getting all your books in one box and leaving them happily someplace locally. And so many people do: they simply bring bags and dusty boxes full of old books in bad condition. Yet, they don’t do it because they mean badly. Many can’t throw books away, even very old ones, because it’s wrong to treat them like that—disrespectfully.
Yet, we urge you to be rational. While books are books, they have their expiration date, so to speak. Not all books are sacred vessels of knowledge, so before you make a donation to your local charity, make sure you’re giving away something of value, or at the very least, something that other people will be able to read, something relevant.
Besides, do pay attention to the condition of your books. If most of your pile is better off being placed in the recycle bin, do so without a heavy heart. Very old, discolored, worn, and torn books won’t be of use to anyone, and you’ll save other people’s time (e.g., volunteers who’ll be sorting and eventually tossing them).
Here’re the books that you should never donate:
- Old, out-of-date textbooks, encyclopedias, and periodicals
- Old guides, out-of-date how-tos, and abridged editions
- Old magazines
- Dirty, worn, torn, or otherwise disfigured or damaged books
- Books with racist or problematic content
- Books with adult content
- Bad-condition picture books for small kids
What Books to Donate
Now that you’ve ruled out the books that’ll go to the “toss” pile, let’s check the rest:
- Ideally, your books should be in pristine condition. However, that’s an unlikely story with old books, so just make sure they have no tears, no writing or highlighting, and no other signs of damage, yellowing, etc. Check whether it’s an ex-library copy or else. Don’t donate anything you wouldn’t like to take into your own hands. Feel free to read our articles about Determining Book Condition and How to Clean Old Books.
- Try to donate something recent. This specifically refers to non-fiction, as it should have been published within the last five years, at the very least. Otherwise, go back to the previous paragraph and re-read it. No one will benefit from your very old textbooks and guides; they get out-of-date really fast and may contain irrelevant information.
- Again, leave out textbooks, encyclopedias, and periodicals aside. There’re other places that may be interested in them. Relevant textbooks can be sold to online booksellers; there’re small local thrift stores that specialize in encyclopedias and periodicals; you just need to find them. If you are unsure of how to sell books online, we have created a comprehensive guide that will teach you how to sell used books profitably.
Where Do Your Donated Books Go?
Please remember that donating books to charity doesn’t mean they all find a new home. As we’ve already mentioned, some organizations will sell them for cash; others may recycle or toss them after their selection process. So, if you’re not ready to part with your books with a light heart, don’t do it. Once you give something away, it’s not yours anymore. The reality is that some of your books will be recycled, and some will go to landfill. However, some of them will make another person a little happier.
If you want to be more confident about the path your books take after your part with them, there are other ways to donate textbooks and used books other than giving them away to charitable organizations:
- Donate your books to your local library.
- Send them to your kid’s school.
- Trade them for other things.
- Start a street library.
- Sell your books and get cash for them.
We hope you now know more about the process of donating books to charities. If you have been thinking about decluttering and came up with our article, now is the time to act. We’ve provided you with a short guide and a list of charities you can donate your used books to. It’s your turn now: share your books with other people and do some good. Your donation will always be appreciated.
