What to Do With Old Books in Lubbock: 2026 Options
Doorstep Pickup with Give My Books Network
The most efficient option for almost any volume. Give My Books Network is a nationwide community book-sharing network with Local Pick-Up Partners across Lubbock. Pack the books, schedule a free pickup, set them outside, and your partner collects on a scheduled service day. Many items are redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations that request books through the Give ME Books program. Some are resold to help sustain the free pickup service. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort.
The big advantage is friction. No driving, no loading the trunk twice, no waiting at a drop-off. The donor does the easy part. The partner does the rest.
Dropping Off at a Library or Thrift Store
The Lubbock Public Library and some thrift stores accept book donations within their own limits. Most have caps on quantity, and some only take certain genres or formats. Calling ahead is worth the time, especially if you have anything beyond a couple of small bags.
For large volumes or anything beyond books — DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, games — drop-off options thin out fast. Doorstep pickup is usually easier in those cases.
Selling Books Yourself
Some books have real resale value. First editions. Out-of-print titles. Specialty cookbooks, art and architecture, technical references. If you know a book is worth something, online resale platforms can deliver fair returns. Texas Tech course books with current editions sometimes have buyback value at campus bookstores.
Most general-interest books, however, are not worth much individually. The time spent listing them rarely pays back. For most donors, the return on selling each book yourself is below minimum wage. The pickup model converts that effort into something simpler.
Giving Books to Friends or Little Free Libraries
This works for small volumes. A few favorite novels handed to a friend who'd enjoy them. A small stack added to a Little Free Library along your walking route. Lubbock has Little Free Libraries scattered through neighborhoods, including parts of the Heart of Lubbock and around walkable areas near the Texas Tech campus.
For anything larger than a small stack, those channels fill up fast. They're not built for volume.
Recycling As a Last Resort
Some books really can't be reused. Heavy water damage, mold, pages falling out, severe damage from years in a hot, dry garage. Those shouldn't enter the donation stream. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort, and the doorstep pickup model handles that routing automatically. The donor doesn't need to triage upfront.
How to Choose
For most Lubbock residents and most situations, doorstep pickup wins. It handles any volume, any mix of formats, and any condition. It doesn't require a trip. It connects donor inventory with readers and organizations across the South Plains through the Give ME Books program. And it's free.
National-level patterns of how communities handle old book inventory are described in part by the American Library Association's Book Donation Programs guide, which outlines how community book donation programs route donated material and how they fit alongside drop-off, resale, and recycling channels.
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If you'd rather see all your choices side by side before booking anything, start with our national guide to where to donate books — it covers what each option takes and what it turns away.