Where Do Children's Book Donations Go in Baltimore?

Local Pick-Up Partners sort collected children's books offsite, and many are redistributed through the Give ME Books program to Title I classrooms, after-school tutoring, ESL programs, and Little Free Libraries that have asked for titles.

Nobody will tell you that your daughter's bedtime favorite landed on a specific shelf in Cherry Hill. Requests are filled from what is on hand. Some items are resold by the partner, and that resale is what makes the collection free.

Why Early Readers Run Short in Baltimore Classrooms

Early readers wear out faster than any other category and get replaced least often, so demand for them in Baltimore classrooms never really lets up. A leveled reader survives maybe two years of six-year-olds.

Picture books, board books, chapter books, and leveled readers are the titles that Title I classrooms across Baltimore City Public Schools request most. If your kids have grown past a shelf of them, that shelf has years of life left in it.

What Condition Do Children's Books Need to Be In?

Children's books need to be readable, not perfect. Crayon on the endpapers, a soft cover corner, or a name written inside the front are all completely fine and completely normal.

What does not work is torn-out pages, mold, water damage, or a board book chewed to pulp. A book that comes apart in a child's hands does not have a second life waiting for it, and no amount of sorting changes that.

How to Pack Children's Books for a Baltimore Pickup

Pack children's books into boxes or doubled grocery bags and set them at the door by 8 AM on your service day. That is the entire job.

1. No sorting needed. Board books, picture books, and chapter books can share a box.
2. Children's books can ride with adult books, DVDs, and puzzles. One pile is fine.
3. Keep boxes light. A box of hardcover picture books gets heavy fast.
4. Bring them down to the stoop yourself. A Local Pick-Up Partner does not carry loads down from a kid's bedroom.
5. Bag or lid over the top if rain is forecast. Wet marble and cardboard do not mix.

Do Baltimore Schools Take Book Donations Directly?

Some Baltimore schools accept children's books directly, usually during an organized drive and usually in small amounts. Most cannot take a standing donation, because a school has nowhere to put one.

Call the school first if you want to go that route. If the answer is no, or if the pile is bigger than a teacher can carry to a classroom, Give My Books Network collects the whole thing from your door in Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, or anywhere else a Local Pick-Up Partner serves. The American Library Association's book donation guide is worth a read on why institutions have to be selective.

What Children's Titles Does Give My Books Network Accept?

Give My Books Network accepts board books, picture books, early and leveled readers, chapter books, middle-grade novels, young adult titles, activity books, and children's audiobooks on disc.

Puzzles, board games, and kids' DVDs go in the same boxes. There is no fee, no minimum, and no tax receipt, because these are locally owned family businesses rather than 501(c)(3) nonprofits.