Donate or Throw Away Old Books? A Los Angeles Guide

Should You Donate or Throw Away Old Books in Los Angeles?

Donate in nearly every case — a book only belongs in a landfill when it is mold-damaged, water-swollen, or missing pages, and Give My Books Network collects almost everything else free from Los Angeles doorsteps.

The question feels harder than it is because people misjudge both ends. They assume the damaged pile is smaller than it really is, and they assume the worthless pile is bigger than it really is. Usually the reverse is true.

Which Books Are Genuinely Beyond Saving?

Only three kinds of book are genuinely beyond saving: mold-damaged, water-swollen, and missing pages. Everything else — dusty, faded, dog-eared, twenty years old, out of date — still has a reader somewhere.

• Mold — black or green speckling, a sour smell. Mold spreads to the books around it, so this one is not a maybe.
• Water damage — swollen, wavy pages that will not close flat.
• Structural failure — missing pages, a spine that has let go, a cover parted from the block.

A garage in Echo Park that took water during one hard January storm will have a ruined bottom layer and a perfectly good collection sitting above it. Check the bottom row before you decide anything about the rest.

Which Books Do Los Angeles Donors Wrongly Assume Are Worthless?

Textbooks, encyclopedia sets, and book club editions get written off constantly, and all three are mistakes. Give My Books Network collects each of them free, and each of them regularly finds a reader.

Textbooks in particular. A teacher, a tutoring program, or an ESL classroom will take a stack of them, and a used copy at four dollars is often the difference between a student having the book and not having it. Encyclopedias land in classrooms and senior centers. Book club editions read exactly the same as the ones that cost more, which was always the point of them.

Why Dry Los Angeles Air Is Kind to Paper

Los Angeles is dry, and dry air preserves paper. A collection that has sat untouched in a garage here for ten years is usually still sound, which would not be true in a humid city.

The damage this city does is sunlight, not moisture. A spine that faced a west window for a decade goes pale, and the title fades right off it. That book still reads perfectly. A sun-bleached spine is a cosmetic problem, and a Local Pick-Up Partner — the locally owned family business that collects and sorts — will take it without comment.

What If Only Part of the Collection Survived?

Pass forward the part that survived and let the rest go. There is no minimum with Give My Books Network, so eleven good boxes out of fourteen is a completely ordinary pickup.

Do not sort by type, either. Hardcovers, paperbacks, DVDs, CDs, and vinyl can all ride in the same box. The only separation that matters is the damaged pile from the sound pile, and that takes about ten minutes with a nose and a flashlight.

How Free Pickup Settles the Question in Los Angeles

Free doorstep pickup removes the reason most people hesitate, which is the drive. Pack the boxes, set them out by 8 AM on your service day, and a Local Pick-Up Partner collects them between 8 AM and 8 PM at no cost. You do not need to be home.

Partners sort offsite. Many items are redistributed through the Give ME Books program to schools, libraries, literacy programs, and senior centers. Some are resold, which is what funds the free pickup. Items with nothing left to give may eventually be recycled as a last resort. The American Library Association's Book Donation Programs guide is worth reading before you decide anything is beyond use. There is no tax receipt, though, since these are family businesses rather than 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Or browse all Los Angeles donation services including Doorstep Book Pickup, Community Book-Sharing Program, Book Donation Pickup.