The final chapter doesn’t have to be the end when it comes to books!
Keeping books in your community is a great way to support local organizations, and if you’re located in Ithaca, NY these are the places where you can donate books near you. Here you’ll find comprehensive information such as the type of donation, how to donate, and which books are accepted.
Family Reading Partnership
Donation Types: Drop off, Drop off in book bin
Office Location (preferred): 40 Catherwood Rd, Suite D-01. Ithaca, NY 14850
Hours: 10am-4pm Monday-Friday
Book Bin Locations: Over 30 other locations in Ithaca and Tompkins County. See their website for all locations
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books and baby books in good condition
Website: Family Reading
How to Donate
The Family Reading Partnership prefers you drop books off at their main office, headquartered near the food court at Ithaca Mall.
If you have just a few books to donate, use one of their book bins located in businesses all around Ithaca and Tompkins County. Just be sure to check opening times of businesses, as some book bins may be inside and not available at all hours of the day.
How They Help
Books are used for a variety of great programs. The ‘Bright Red Bookshelves’ allow families to take home books to read, and there are currently over 50 situated around Ithaca and Tompkins County.
‘Books to Grow On’ is a really great program, where a professional will visit a family regularly from when their child is 2 months old right up to kindergarten, and read to the child as well as help the parents make storytime special.
As someone who knows all too well the benefits of reading aloud, this is a great way to encourage reading in a child’s formative years, and any donations of children’s books can help these great programs.
Friends of Tompkins Library Book Sale
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 09 Esty Street, Ithaca NY 14850
Hours: 7-9pm
Type of Books Not Accepted: Encyclopedias post-1920, children’s encyclopedias and magazines, catalogs, Reader’s Digest, AAA travel guides, most magazines
Website: Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library
How to Donate
It’s best to check the Friends’ website (linked above) for their seasonal book sale donation guidelines. They don’t accept books year round.
If you have more than 13 boxes to donate, call 607-272-2223 or email info@booksale.org to arrange an appointment.
Strong bags and moving boxes are their preferred method of receiving your books.
How They Help
The Book Sale is a big event in Tompkins County, and the profits support grants for residents pursuing library degrees, and general education grants for library employees and school employees in the county.
On top of this, grants have been donated to several local nonprofits in the county such as Rural Youth Services and Unity House of Cayuga County. You can see where all their grants have gone on their website here (an extensive list!)
Durland Alternatives Library
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 130 Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Hours: Email to arrange drop off: alternativeslibrary@gmail.com
Website: Alternatives Library
How to Donate
Email to arrange a drop off time for your books. Generally, the library specializes in books to do with sustainability and social justice, but email them to see what they will and won’t take. They will also pass books onto their Prisoner Express program, which is a great way to make a change in someone’s life.
Well, that concludes our list of where to donate books in Ithaca. Much like our guide to New York City book donations, it’s great to see such great New York organizations doing work in the jewel of the Finger Lakes! Books can help those less fortunate, and the power of reading is certainly something that’s not taken lightly in Ithaca and the surrounding areas.