Why Children's Books Move So Fast

Of all the things people donate, children's books leave the warehouse fastest. Schools want them. Tutoring programs want them. Libraries and Little Free Libraries scattered through West Woods and Candelas rely on a steady flow of new picture books and chapter books to stay stocked.

Kids outgrow books quickly. A board book that captivated a two-year-old has a long second life with the next two-year-old. Give My Books Network handles the handoff.

What We Pick Up in Arvada

All of them. Board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, young adult. Hardcover or paperback. Series sets are welcome. Workbooks and activity books that haven't been written in are welcome. Spanish-language and dual-language children's books are especially valued because of strong demand from ESL classrooms across the western Denver metro.

Books should be in reasonable shape for re-reading. Crayon scribbles on a page are part of life. But torn covers, missing pages, or anything chewed past readability cannot really be passed forward.

Where Children's Book Donations Go

Many items are redistributed through the Give ME Books program. For children's books specifically, the most common destinations are Title I schools, ESL classrooms, after-school tutoring programs, homeschool networks, pediatric reading rooms, and Little Free Libraries. Some may be resold by the partner. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort. The American Library Association's Book Donation Programs guide outlines how children's book donations typically flow into school libraries and family literacy initiatives.

Give My Books Network is a nationwide community book-sharing network, and the Arvada pickups are handled by independent Local Pick-Up Partners who live and work in the same neighborhoods you do. Many items collected end up with schools, libraries, and literacy programs that request books through the Give ME Books program.