--- title: "How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Baltimore Guide" description: "How to prepare books for donation in Baltimore: what to pack them in, how heavy a box should be, and where to set them out on a rowhouse marble stoop." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/#organization", "name": "Give My Books Network", "legalName": "Book Sourcing Mastery, LLC", "url": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com", "logo": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "image": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "description": "Give My Books Network is a nationwide United States network of local Pick-Up Partners who collect used books, textbooks, CDs and DVDs for free directly from the donor's door, resell what is sellable and rehome the rest to schools, libraries, shelters and nonprofits.", "foundingDate": "2022", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "2091 Stratton Ct.", "addressLocality": "Ann Arbor", "addressRegion": "MI", "postalCode": "48108", "addressCountry": "US" }, "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "availableLanguage": "English" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://www.instagram.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://twitter.com/givemybooks" ], "areaServed": { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "Give My Books Network", "legalName": "Book Sourcing Mastery, LLC", "url": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com", "logo": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "image": "https://givemybooksnetwork.com/social-card.jpg", "description": "Give My Books Network provides free door-to-door book donation pickup services across the United States. We collect books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, and more – giving your items a second life while supporting literacy programs.", "foundingDate": "2022", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "2091 Stratton Ct.", "addressLocality": "Ann Arbor", "addressRegion": "MI", "postalCode": "48108", "addressCountry": "US" }, "contactPoint": { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+1-855-506-8633", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "support@givemybooksnetwork.com", "availableLanguage": "English" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://www.instagram.com/givemybooksnetwork", "https://twitter.com/givemybooks", "https://littlefreelibrary.org/book-resource/give-my-books-network-give-me-books-program/" ], "areaServed": { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" } } ] --- Feedback ![Give My Books Network Logo](/assets/gmbn-logo-BsMIhLrP.png) - Learn More Schedule Pick-UpGive ME BooksBecome a Pick-Up Partner Sign In Home› Baltimore, MD› Learn More # How to prepare books for donation in Baltimore How to prepare books for donation in Baltimore: what to pack them in, how heavy a box should be, and where to set them out on a rowhouse marble stoop. Schedule Free Pickup ![A stylized city skyline at golden hour with books in the foreground](/assets/city-scene-fallback-yglTcFEu.jpg) Baltimore, MD # How to Prepare Books for Donation in Baltimore **Quick answer:** To prepare books for donation in Baltimore, pack them into sturdy boxes or doubled bags, keep each one light enough for one person to lift, and set them on the stoop by 8 AM on your service day. A Give My Books Network Local Pick-Up Partner collects between 8 AM and 8 PM. You do not need to be home. ## How Do You Prepare Books for Donation in Baltimore? Pack the books yourself, in advance, and set them out by 8 AM. Give My Books Network sends a Local Pick-Up Partner to collect what is already waiting at the door, so everything comes down to what you do the night before. 1. Gather the books. Shelves, closets, under the bed, the boxes by the basement steps. 2. Pack them into sturdy boxes, totes, or doubled grocery bags. Do not sort by type. 3. Keep every container light enough that one person can carry it alone. 4. Carry the boxes down to the first floor yourself. The partner collects from the door, not from a back bedroom. 5. Set them on the marble step, in the vestibule, or wherever you told the partner to look, by 8 AM. 6. Cover the cardboard if rain or snow is coming. A lid, a bag, an old shower curtain. 7. Go to work. The Local Pick-Up Partner collects between 8 AM and 8 PM. ## What Should You Pack Books In? Use whatever you already own that will hold weight: moving boxes, banker's boxes, plastic totes, sturdy shopping bags, or grocery bags doubled up. Give My Books Network partners do not bring boxes, so the container is on you. Small boxes beat big ones every time. A liquor-store box, a copy-paper box, a produce box from the corner store. Big boxes only tempt you to fill them, and a filled big box of books is a hospital visit waiting to happen. ## How Heavy Is Too Heavy for a Box? If you cannot lift it comfortably with two hands and carry it ten feet, it is too heavy. Books are deceptively dense, and a medium box packed solid with hardcovers can pass forty pounds without looking like much. Split it. Two half-full boxes are better than one nobody can move, and your Local Pick-Up Partner has a back that matters too. - **Paperbacks** — you can fill a small box and still lift it. - **Hardcovers** — half-fill, then top off with something light. - **Textbooks and encyclopedias** — a third of a box is plenty. They are bricks. ## Where to Set Boxes Out on a Baltimore Rowhouse The stoop, the vestibule, or the covered spot right beside the front door. On a Baltimore rowhouse the front door opens straight onto the sidewalk, almost nobody has a driveway, and the marble steps are the natural set-out spot. If your block runs one-way and stopping out front is genuinely impossible, or if you keep a parking pad off the alley behind the row, say so when you schedule. Partners work these blocks. A note like "alley side, blue gate, off Eastern Avenue" saves everybody ten minutes. ## How to Keep Rain and Snow Off Your Boxes Cover the cardboard. A box on a wet marble stoop softens fast, and Baltimore weather serves up humid summers, freeze-thaw winters, and the occasional nor'easter that arrives with no manners at all. A tote lid, a contractor bag pulled over the top, a scrap of plastic sheeting, an old shower curtain. Any of it works. None of it takes more than a minute, and it is the difference between a box the partner can lift and a box that gives out on the sidewalk. ## What You Do Not Have to Do You do not have to sort, alphabetize, clean, or separate anything. Hardcovers, paperbacks, children's books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, vinyl, board games, and video games can all ride together in the same box. "Should I separate the kids' books?" Nope. "Do the DVDs go on their own?" They do not. Local Pick-Up Partners sort every collection offsite, which is the job they signed up for. ## What Happens After a Baltimore Pickup Local Pick-Up Partners sort every Baltimore collection offsite. Books with a market are resold, which is what funds the free pickup, and much of the rest is redistributed through the Give ME Books program to schools, libraries, literacy programs, and nonprofits. Items with nothing left may eventually be recycled as a last resort. There is no tax receipt, because partners are family businesses rather than 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The [Book Donation Programs guide from the American Library Association](https://libguides.ala.org/book-donations) covers what receiving organizations can realistically absorb, and it is worth a look before you pack. ### Ready to schedule your free Baltimore book pickup? We'll come to your door — no cost, no hassle. Book pickup, DVD pickup, large-quantity, estate, and more in Baltimore, MD. Schedule Free Pickup Or browse all Baltimore donation services including Large Quantity Book Pickup , Book Donation Drop-Off , Children's Book Donations . Weighing up your options in Baltimore, MD? Our guide to [where to donate books](/where-to-donate-books) compares doorstep pickup with libraries, thrift stores and every other realistic destination. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What should I pack donated books in? ### How heavy should a box of books be? ### Do I have to carry the boxes downstairs myself? ### Where do I put the boxes if I have no driveway? ### How do I protect boxes from Baltimore rain and snow? ### Do I need to sort books before the pickup? ## More from Baltimore Learn More Best places to donate books in Baltimore in 2026 Learn More Handling a large book collection in Baltimore Learn More Donate or throw away old books? A Baltimore guide Service Large Quantity Book Pickup in Baltimore Service Book Donation Drop-Off in Baltimore Service Children's Book Donations in Baltimore Back to Baltimore Donation Services ## Find us in Baltimore Our local Pick-Up Partners serve the Baltimore area. If your exact address is inside our service area, you can book a doorstep pickup today. Loading map of Baltimore, MD… ## Ready to clear your shelves? Join thousands of Baltimore neighbors who have already donated their books through the Network. Schedule Free Pickup ![Give My Books Network Logo](/assets/gmbn-logo-BsMIhLrP.png) **America's Nationwide Community Book-Sharing Network.** Free book and media pickup service! Local Pick-Up Partners collect your donated books, CDs, DVDs, and media right from your doorstep. 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