What to Do With Old Books You No Longer Want: Top Options in 2026 for Scottsdale
Donating Through a Doorstep Pickup 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 Scottsdale. Schedule a free pickup, set the books outside, and your partner collects them 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 the 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
Local libraries and some Scottsdale 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.
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 would enjoy them. A small stack added to a Little Free Library along your walking route. Scottsdale has Little Free Libraries scattered through neighborhoods including parts of South Scottsdale, the Cactus Corridor, and others.
For anything larger than a small stack, those channels fill up fast. They are not built for volume.
Recycling As a Last Resort
Some books really cannot be reused. Heavy water damage, mold, pages falling out, severe heat damage from years in a hot Scottsdale garage. Those should not 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 does not need to triage upfront.
How to Choose
For most Scottsdale residents and most situations, doorstep pickup wins. It handles any volume, any mix of formats, and any condition. It does not require a trip. It connects donor inventory with readers and organizations through the Give ME Books program. And it is 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 materials and how they fit alongside drop-off, resale, and recycling channels.
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New to this? Our guide to where to donate books explains which books nobody can use any more, what happens to the rest, and how Scottsdale, AZ pickups actually work.