What Media Does Give My Books Network Collect in Boston?

Give My Books Network collects DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, VHS tapes, vinyl records, audiobooks on disc, video games, and the cases they came in, free from any Boston doorstep a Local Pick-Up Partner serves.

• DVDs and Blu-rays, including box sets and full series
• CDs, from the jewel-case era through to the cardboard sleeves
• Vinyl records, LPs and 45s alike
• VHS tapes, which still find an audience, improbably enough
• Audiobooks on disc, video games, board games, and puzzles

All of it can ride in the same box as the books. The sorting happens offsite, after collection, which is a partner's problem rather than yours.

Can I Add DVDs to a Book Donation Pick Up in Boston?

Yes. Media goes in the same boxes as the books on any book donation pick up in Boston, and there is no extra step, no separate request, and no additional cost.

'Do the DVDs need their own bag?' They do not. 'Should the records go on top?' Only if you would rather they arrived flat, which, to be fair, is a good instinct. Otherwise, pack it all together and set it out.

Do You Take Vinyl Records?

Vinyl is welcome and always has been. Give My Books Network collects LPs and 45s alongside books and other media, in any quantity, at no cost to you.

Records have their own quiet economy in this city. The crates that come out of South Boston triple-deckers and the apartments up toward the Somerville line are full of jazz, Motown, soundtracks, and a startling amount of Irish folk. Somebody is looking for every one of those.

Pack records upright, spines out, like books on a shelf. Never flat under something heavy.

How Do I Pack Discs, Tapes, and Records for Pickup?

Pack media upright in a sturdy box, keep the box light enough to lift alone, and set it at ground level by 8 AM. A Local Pick-Up Partner does not bring boxes and does not carry items down from an apartment.

1. Stand DVDs, CDs, and records on edge rather than stacking them flat.
2. Keep the cases if you still have them. Loose discs are fine too.
3. Mix media in with books freely. No separating needed.
4. Set everything out by 8 AM, dry and sheltered.
5. Cover the cardboard if rain or wet snow is coming off the harbor.

Where Media Donations Go After a South Boston Pickup

A Local Pick-Up Partner sorts every collection offsite. Many items are redistributed to libraries, senior centers, shelters, after-school programs, and other organizations that request titles through the Give ME Books program. Some items are resold by the partner.

Media is a meaningful part of that resale, which is one of the reasons a pickup costs nothing. A senior center along Massachusetts Avenue asking for large-print books and old films is a real request, and it gets filled from real donations. The American Library Association's Book Donation Programs guide explains why physical media is one of the hardest categories for institutions to accept directly, which is precisely the gap this fills.

What Media Is Not a Fit

Cracked discs, warped records, mold-damaged sleeves, and tapes that have unspooled are the exclusions. A disc that will not play has no second life ahead of it, and no amount of sorting changes that.

Scratches are usually fine. Missing cases are fine. A record with a worn sleeve and a clean surface is entirely welcome. Use the same standard you would use as a buyer: would this play for somebody?

What a Media Donation Pickup Costs

Nothing. A media donation pickup in Boston is free, with no fee, no per-item charge, and no minimum, exactly like a pickup of books alone.

One honest limit worth stating: Give My Books Network and its Local Pick-Up Partners are family businesses rather than 501(c)(3) nonprofits, so no tax-deduction receipt is issued. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort. Everything else gets a shot at another living room.