--- title: "How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide" description: "How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide made simple. Learn what to pack, how to set out items, and what happens next. Find out more." 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› New York, NY› Learn More # How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide made simple. Learn what to pack, how to set out items, and what happens next. Find out more. Schedule Free Pickup ![A stylized city skyline at golden hour with books in the foreground](/assets/city-scene-fallback-yglTcFEu.jpg) New York, NY ## How to Prepare Books for Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide for New York Readers Getting books ready to donate doesn't have to take all day. This guide walks you through what to do, from sorting to packing, so your books can reach new readers without the stress. Whether you're clearing out a studio in the East Village or a storage unit in Queens, these steps work for any New York space. ## Start by Sorting Your Books into Clear Categories Here's the thing most people get wrong. They think sorting means organizing by genre or author. It doesn't. When you're preparing books for donation, sorting means figuring out what's still usable and what isn't. That's it. We see this mistake all the time. Someone spends an entire Saturday alphabetizing their collection, separating fiction from nonfiction, stacking cookbooks apart from memoirs, none of that matters for donation prep. Your Local Pick-Up Partner handles sorting after collection. What matters right now is condition. Walk through your shelves and pull everything down. Make three piles on your floor, your kitchen table, wherever you've got room. Pile one: books in good shape. Pile two: books with some wear. Pile three: books that are falling apart. Good shape means the spine holds, pages are intact, the cover isn't peeling off. A little yellowing on the edges? Fine. A coffee ring on the cover? Still fine. Most used books show their age. That doesn't make them unusable. Some wear means dog-eared pages, minor water stains, a cracked spine that still holds together. These books can still find readers. Don't pass on them just because they look loved. Falling apart is different. Loose pages, heavy mold, covers completely detached. Books soaked through from a leaky pipe in your Brooklyn brownstone or a flooded basement in Astoria, if it smells like mildew when you open it, set it aside. Items that can't be reused may eventually be recycled, but the goal is always to extend the life of books and keep them in circulation. Here's a scenario we run into a lot in New York. Someone's clearing out a studio on the Upper West Side. They've got three shelves of paperbacks, a box of textbooks from college, and a stack of kids' books their nephew left behind. All mixed together. All dusty. Don't overthink it. Pull out anything with visible mold or heavy water damage and set those aside. Everything else goes in the donation pile. Textbooks from 2009? Still useful to someone. Romance novels with bent covers? Absolutely. Children's board books with crayon marks? Those get read again and again. And here's what surprises most people. You don't need to separate genres, formats, or reading levels before a pickup. There's no need to sort or separate any books beforehand, all items should simply be placed in boxes or bags that are well packed and not too heavy. Your Pick-Up Partner takes care of the rest after collection. So why sort by condition at all? Because it helps you feel good about what you're passing forward. You'll know the books leaving your home have a real shot at reaching another reader. A quick tip from experience. Check inside the front covers. People in New York use books as storage, we've heard stories of cash tucked between pages, old photos used as bookmarks, personal letters folded into dust jackets. Give every book a quick flip-through before it goes in the box. You'd be surprised what turns up. But don't spend too long on any single book. This isn't a reading session. Flip, check, stack. Move on. What about media beyond books? CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, the same rule applies. If the disc is scratched beyond playing or the case is shattered, pull it out. Everything else can go in with your books. Many items collected through Give My Books Network are redistributed to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations requesting books. Some items may be resold to support the partner's business and help sustain the free pickup service. One more thing worth mentioning. If you've got a big collection spread across multiple rooms, don't try to do this all at once. Tackle one bookshelf or one closet per day. Living in a New York apartment means space is tight, so working in batches keeps your hallway from turning into an obstacle course. The whole point of sorting by condition is speed and confidence. You're not building a library catalog. You're making a quick call on each item: usable or not. Everything usable goes in the box. If you're ready to schedule a free pickup for your sorted books, you can do that through our book donation pickup page and get those boxes off your floor. ## Cleaning and Prepping Books Takes Only a Few Minutes Per Box Here's what we see all the time. People spend hours agonizing over their books before a pickup, wiping every cover, inspecting every page, organizing by genre. That's way more effort than you need. A few simple steps per box. That's really it. Start with a quick visual check. Flip through each book fast. You're looking for major problems only, mold, water damage, pest damage. A creased spine or some highlighting? Totally fine. Partners handle sorting after collection, so don't stress about condition grading. Mold is the one thing worth watching for. It spreads. One moldy book can affect an entire box. If you spot fuzzy spots or smell something musty, pull that book out. In New York apartments, especially in buildings with older ventilation and basement storage, books sometimes pick up moisture over time. A quick sniff test works surprisingly well. But dusty books? Just give them a light wipe with a dry cloth. Paper towels work fine. You don't need any sprays or cleaning products. Damp rags can actually damage pages, so keep it dry. Most books that have been sitting on a shelf just need the dust knocked off the top edge. We've collected books from apartments across Manhattan and Brooklyn where shelves sat untouched for years. A thin layer of dust on the page edges is completely normal. Thirty seconds with a dry cloth handles it. And here's something most people don't realize. You don't need to remove bookmarks, sticky notes, or personal inscriptions. Those things don't affect whether a book can be reused. Your job is just to get books boxed up and ready, the partner sorts everything after collection. What about books with torn covers or missing dust jackets? Still good. A paperback with a bent cover reads the same. Don't overthink this part. One thing that does help is checking for items that aren't books. We sometimes find old magazines, loose papers, or random office supplies mixed into boxes. Keeping your boxes focused on books and media makes things smoother for your Local Pick-Up Partner. So what counts as media? CDs, DVDs, textbooks, audiobooks, vinyl records, VHS tapes, board games, puzzles, video games. All fine to include alongside your books. Now, packing. Place books in boxes or bags that are well packed and not too heavy. This matters more than people think, especially in New York. Your partner might be walking up a narrow staircase in a six-story walkup, a tight hallway, or carrying boxes from a stoop to a vehicle on a busy street. A box that's too heavy creates a real problem. A good rule of thumb: if you can't comfortably lift the box with one hand, it's too heavy. Medium-sized moving boxes work great. Reusable shopping bags are fine for smaller batches. Just make sure they won't tear when lifted. There's no need to sort or separate any books before pickup. Fiction mixed with cookbooks mixed with children's books? Perfect. Partners sort everything after collection. Spending time organizing at home doesn't speed anything up on our end. Here's a real scenario we see a lot. Someone in a sixth-floor walkup has eight boxes of books. They want to pass their books forward but feel buried by the volume. Work one box at a time. Quick dust wipe, check for mold, pack it up. Eight boxes might take 40 minutes total. And nobody needs to be present for the pickup itself. Items should be left starting at 8 AM in a safe, dry location, outside your door, in a lobby, in a garage. The pickup window for a Local Pick-Up Partner is between 8 AM and 8 PM. Prep your boxes the night before and head to work without worrying about timing. If you're ready to schedule a free pickup in New York, Give My Books Network makes it simple. Enter your ZIP code, pick a service day, and place your boxes out. Your books get a second life, and you get your space back. ### Ready to schedule your free New York book pickup? We'll come to your door — no cost, no hassle. Book pickup, DVD pickup, large-quantity, estate, and more in New York, NY. Schedule Free Pickup Or browse all New York donation services including DVD & Media Donation Pickup , Board Game and Puzzle Donation Pickup , Book Donation Pickup . New to this? Our guide to [where to donate books](/where-to-donate-books) explains which books nobody can use any more, what happens to the rest, and how New York, NY pickups actually work. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do I need to sort books by genre or reading level before a pickup in New York? ### What is the easiest way to pack books for donation pickup? ### Do I need to be home when my books are picked up? ### Does New York's climate affect how I should store books before pickup? ### What happens to books after they are collected in New York? ### Can I include CDs, DVDs, and vinyl records with my book donation? ## More from New York Learn More Best Places to Donate Books in 2026 Learn More How to Get Rid of a Large Collection of Books Learn More Should You Donate or Throw Away Old Books? Service DVD & Media Donation Pickup in New York Service Board Game and Puzzle Donation Pickup in New York Service Book Donation Pickup in New York Back to New York Donation Services ## Find us in New York Our local Pick-Up Partners serve the New York area. If your exact address is inside our service area, you can book a doorstep pickup today. Loading map of New York, NY… ## Ready to clear your shelves? Join thousands of New York 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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