Each year, hundreds of items are donated that are not sellable. This takes up a lot of time and space that we just don’t have. We encourage you to think carefully about what you are donating to the library. Keep in mind that anything you donate, you need to able to bring in to the building yourself–we do not have staff on hand to help. If you wouldn’t buy it at a garage sale, it is likely that we will not be able to use it either.

Here are some guidelines to help you decide what is appropriate to donate:

We Love These!

✅ Newer items–the newer the item is, the better
✅ Gently used items–items in good condition, with no obvious stains, smells or damage (or other gross stuff)
✅ Fiction, especially anything from the last five years
✅ Non-fiction that is still relevant and accurate
✅ DVDs in good cases
✅ Video games for game systems that are still commonly in use
✅ Books in another language, like Spanish or Arabic

We Can’t Accept These

❌ Damaged items–anything that is yellowed, stained, ripped, scribbled in or chewed, missing pages, or has a weird smell. This includes anything damaged due to water, insects, mold, tobacco smoke, or mildew.
❌ Textbooks, Law books, Engineering books or Medical books
❌ Encyclopedias and other reference books like atlases or travel guides older than 2 years
❌ Items for systems that are no longer widely available (like CD-Rom, VHS tapes, cassette tapes)
❌Newspapers and Magazines older than the current year, including National Geographic
❌ Reader’s Digest Condensed books
❌ Catalogs or junk mail
❌ A lot of items at once–we are not equipped to handle more than a few boxes at a time. If you have a  special circumstance, call the library and arrange a time so we can prepare for your donation.

General Hint: If you wouldn’t give it to a friend, please don’t give it to the library.