What Is a Community Book-Sharing Program in Los Angeles?

A community book-sharing program moves books from homes that are finished with them to readers who want them, without a fee at either end. Give My Books Network does this with free doorstep collection and a redistribution program on the other side.

The whole thing runs on two simple facts. Books outlive the households that bought them, and somebody two miles away wants exactly what is in that box.

How Does the Give ME Books Program Work?

Organizations request titles through the Give ME Books program, and Local Pick-Up Partners fill those requests from what they collect and sort. Schools, libraries, nonprofits, ESL classrooms, senior centers, and after-school tutoring programs all take part.

Not every book gets donated, and Give My Books Network says so rather than pretending otherwise. Some items are resold by the partner, and that resale pays for the van, the fuel, and the sorting hours that make the collection free. Items with no second life left may eventually be recycled, as a last resort.

How Do Books Move From One Los Angeles Home to Another?

Through the doorstep, mostly. You pack your books, set them out by 8 AM on your service day, and a Local Pick-Up Partner collects them by 8 PM and sorts them offsite. From there they go to a requesting organization, to a reader, or to a shelf that needed filling.

Where to Donate Books to Los Angeles Schools and Libraries

Requests from Los Angeles schools and libraries are filled through the Give ME Books program rather than by dropping a box at a front desk. Books collected in Mar Vista can end up in a classroom on the other side of the city, which is what a network is for.

• Schools and classrooms — children's books, readers, and workbooks in usable shape.
• Libraries and literacy programs — titles they have asked for, in the quantities they can hold.
• Senior centers and tutoring programs — large print, fiction, and reference.
• Little Free Libraries — the paperbacks that keep a box on a parkway stocked.

Can Organizations Request Books in Los Angeles?

Yes. Schools, libraries, nonprofits, shelters, literacy programs, ESL classrooms, senior centers, and after-school tutoring programs can all request titles through the Give ME Books program. Requests are filled from what Local Pick-Up Partners collect and sort.

Availability depends on what comes in. A partner cannot promise a specific title on a specific week, and Give My Books Network will not pretend otherwise. What it can do is keep a steady flow of books moving from full houses to empty shelves.

How Do Little Free Libraries Fit In?

Little Free Libraries are the smallest node in the whole community book-sharing program, and one of the most useful. The boxes along the LA River path and on Palms front lawns run dry constantly, and they get restocked from exactly this kind of flow.

A Little Free Library is not a place to leave boxes, though. A handful of paperbacks at a time is the right amount. Everything beyond that belongs in a pickup. The American Library Association's book donation programs guide covers the same distinction from the library side.

How Do I Add My Books to the Network?

Enter your Los Angeles ZIP code on the Give My Books Network site, choose a service day, pack your boxes, and set them out by 8 AM. A Local Pick-Up Partner collects them by 8 PM, and you do not need to be home.

No sorting. Hardcovers, paperbacks, children's books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, board games, and puzzles can all share a box. If no partner covers your ZIP code yet, the request enters the out-of-area pickup system, where a nearby partner may claim it.

What Does Participation Cost?

Nothing, on either side. Donors pay no fee and no per-box charge. Organizations requesting books through the Give ME Books program pay nothing either.

One honest limit: Give My Books Network and its Local Pick-Up Partners are family businesses rather than 501(c)(3) nonprofits, so there is no tax-deduction receipt. If a receipt is what the donation is for, a registered nonprofit is the right destination.