Have you embarked on an adventure of decluttering your shelves, and found books that you don’t need or read anymore? If so, and you’re looking to donate books in Los Angeles, then look no further!
This comprehensive list details the best places to donate books in Los Angeles with a variety of donation types: some have book bins, some will collect books from you; as well as information on what types of books the organizations do and don’t accept. There are no fewer than 11 organizations here!
Access Books
Donation Type: Drop off in book bin
West Los Angeles: 01325 Orton Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90064
Orton is found east of Beverly Gren between Olympic and Pico.
Malibu: 3727 Malibu Country Drive Malibu, Ca 98265
This can be found one block north of Malibu Canyon near the Pepperdine University.
South Bay: 651 Ave B, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Los Angeles North Side (Pasadena, Glendale, etc): 419 Starlight Crest Drive, La Canada, 91011
Hours: Most sites are residential and don’t have “opening hours”
Type of Books Accepted: Elementary school/K5 reading level books for kids
Website: Access Books
How to Donate
Drop off your children’s books at the sites above. Please note, most sites are residential and therefore don’t have opening hours. Access Books asks that the boxes are labeled, sealed in stackable boxes rather than overflowing bags.
Access Books are prevalent throughout California, and do amazing work by using their book donations to fund public school libraries in areas with high poverty rates. They’ve even been featured on TV!
Please note they do not accept books for grown-ups or books over 5 years old.
Children’s Book World
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 10580 ½ West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90064
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm; Sat 10am-5pm
Donation Receipt: No
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books, baby books
Website: Book Recycling Center
How to Donate
Children’s Book World advise bringing your gently used books to the address above.
Children’s Book World is not able to accept the following:
- Text books
- Old library books
- Adult books
- Videos or games
Children’s Books World is really doing some great work in the community, as it aids the children they work with in learning the value and rewards of sharing with others. Very cool!
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Donation Type: Drop off, Mail
Location: 4650 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:30am-7:30pm; Saturday: 10am-6:30pm
Donation Receipt: Yes
Website: CHLA Literally Healing
How to Donate
Drop off or mail your book donations to the address above.
Ideally, the books should be brand new due to infection control policies that are in place at the hospital.
If you don’t have any books to donate, but still want to donate something, magazine subscriptions are welcome. Please send them to the above address, adding “Literally Healing Program” to the subscription name (love that name!) Take a look at their website for a list of desired magazine subscriptions, for both patients and parents. The Amazon magazine wish list can be found here.
Every day that a patient is at the hospital, they receive a minimum of one free brand new book to read and take home with them. This is a great way to provide a distraction from the possible scary hospital environment by engaging their imaginations through literature.
The Hospital’s Amazon book wish list can be found here – this link enables the books to be delivered straight to the hospital, so it takes one less job to donate!
American Book Drive
Donation Type: Pick up from you, drop off in book bin
Location: Pick up service available from anywhere in Los Angeles
Hours: 24h drop-off bins, or Mon-Fri pick-up service
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, encyclopedias, Yellow Pages, law books, outdated textbooks
Website: American Book Drive
How to Donate
With over 70 drop off bins, and their site boasting more being added weekly, the American Book Drive aim to keep books out of landfills and use them instead to benefit the local community.
This organization’s business model is to sell donated books online and use the funds raised to benefit charities within Los Angeles and the surrounding counties. Currently they support four main charities: The Los Angeles Affiliate Of Susan G. Komen For The Cure, SPCA, Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation, and the San Juan Capistrano Educational Foundation.
The organization does allow you to choose which of these charities you would like funds from your donated books to benefit. Any children’s books which are in excellent condition are packaged up and distributed to local hospitals, schools and children’s centers, making this the ideal place to send books of that nature.
Textbooks with a copyright of 2006 or after are gratefully received, so those looking to unload their schoolbooks will certainly find a home for them here.
If you live in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, or San Diego county you can simply fill in a home pick-up request form and they come to you. You can choose the day they arrive as they operate 5 days a week, with a fleet of van drivers available to come wherever you need them.
BookEnds
Donation Type: Drop off, drop off in book bin
Locations:
– PATH, 340 Madison, Los Angeles, CA 90004.
– Under the Sea, 204 South Sepulveda Blvd., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.
– 2957 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064
Hours: PATH Mon-Fri 7am-5pm; Under the Sea Mon-Fri 10am-6pm
Donation Receipt: Yes
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books of all shapes and sizes
Website: BookEnds
How to Donate
This organization is specifically looking for children’s books, which are then redistributed through local literacy projects. Your gently used children’s books can be posted to BookEnds 2957 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064. Alternatively you can drop off in person at this address, but be sure to call first on 310-478-2665.
BookEnds also work with two local businesses (listed above) where books can be dropped off in the book bins during their opening hours above.
Established in 1998 by an eight-year-old boy who, on a sick day from school, accompanied his mom to a Board of Directors meeting at Hollygrove Children’s Home, then returned to school and told his 3rd grade class that his mom’s orphanage needed books. After this, the first BookEnds book drive was born!
The book drive collected more books than the children’s home knew what to do with, so Brandon accompanied his mom knocking on doors to see who else was in need of books – and it turned out there were a lot in need. Since then, they have donated over two million books to children who needed them.
Re-Book It
Donation Type: Pick up from you
Location: Free book pick up in LA county (email for pick up)
Donation Receipt: Yes, upon request
Type of Books Not Accepted: Journals, magazines, law books, old library books, encyclopedias, newspapers, textbooks over 5 years old
Website: Re-Book It
How to Donate
Book donations can be arranged to be picked up by Re-Book It via emailing them.
Re-Book It will consider picking up donations in the following counties, if the donation is at least 40 boxes and no more than 2 hours from LA:
- Orange
- San Bernardino
- Ventura
- Riverside
Re-Book It won’t go crazy if there are a few of the above books included in the donation. Books with highlighting and underlining are also fine, but please, no moldy books, or books with missing pages.
The donations benefit libraries, schools, hospitals, at-risk children and the Last Bookstore.
Book Driver
Donation Type: Pick up from you
Location: Pick up from anywhere in Los Angeles, CA by filling in this form
Hours: Appointment only
Donation Receipt: No
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, children’s books, journals, law books, corporate training books, photography books
Website: Book Driver
How to Donate
Offering a free pick-up service for as many as 300 books at a time, Book Driver use donated books to raise funds for local literacy programs as well as shipping them to various Friends of the library organizations across the United States.
Their collection driver is based nearby in San Pedro, so if you’re close to there, be sure to mention it while filling in their contact form and you can book a time to make a drop off. Alternatively, they’re happy to come to you, wherever you’re based within Los Angeles county.
Once you contact them, they’ll be in contact within one business day to arrange a time and date that works for you.
Libros Schmibros Lending Library
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 103 N Boyle Avenue, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA 90033
Hours: Wed-Sun 12-6pm
Donation Receipt: Yes
Website: Libros Schmibros
How to Donate
A bilingual library which aims to bring low-cost books to everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age, the lending library’s mission statement is to champion the pleasure of literature and its power to change lives. Your donated books are used to keep this institution running and distributing books to the less advantaged.
They do not accept any of the following:
- Magazines
- Manuals
- Textbooks
- Encyclopedias
- Travel guides
Other than the above, as long as your books are in good condition, they’ll be happy to take them off your hands. They accept books in Spanish too.
Book Removal LA
Donation Type: Pick up from you
Location Range: Los Angeles County
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, catalogs, outdated school textbooks
Website: Book Removal
How to Donate
A specialized free pick up service, Book Removal will pick up books from addresses within Los Angeles county, as well as larger donations in neighboring counties.
They request you arrange a pick up via their website link above. Please note they only pick up donations larger than 50 books.
Friends of the Mar Vista Library
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 12006 Venice Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90066
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-4:30pm
Donation Receipt: Yes
Website: Friends of Mar Vista Library
How to Donate
Completely run through volunteers, friends of the library use donated books to sell in their library shop to fund the running of the library itself. Funds raised will also go towards the library’s various literacy projects and educational programs, so giving them your unwanted books is a great way to support your local community.
Their only criteria is that the books be in good condition, and they don’t accept textbooks which are too out of date. If you have a book which they don’t currently have within their library collection, it may even make an appearance in the library’s shelves. If you’ve a large donation to make, be sure to contact them first as storage space is limited.
Where To Donate Books in Los Angeles, the Sparknotes:
- Access Books
- Discover Books
- Children’s Book World
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
- American Book Drive
- Book Ends
- Re-Book It
- Book Driver
- Libros Schmibros Lending Library
- Book Removal
- Friends of the Mar Vista Library
And there you have it! Those are the best places to donate books in Los Angeles. It’s fantastic to see such a wide scope of organizations in the city of Angels, including multiple book donation drop off locations in Los Angeles.
We hope that this has inspired, or motivated you to donate those books gathering dust on your shelf. Think of all the recipients loving the books that you have donated, and if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, we don’t know what will!
Dear Tom,
I’m a retired middle school teacher with an enormous library of books I need to get rid of. I would like to sell them and donate the proceeds to a charity I am working with. Someone told me that there are places that buy books by the pound. Do you know of such a thing? I can sell them on ebay, but this takes time and I am paying for a storage space that is increasing its fees every month. Any suggestions?
Hey Jessica, unfortunately I don’t know anywhere that would buy your books that way. I am sure some of the nonprofits in LA would come to collect books from your storage space if you asked. If you want to mail books in somewhere in bulk, I suggest looking at Books for Africa (Georgia warehouse location.) Sorry I cannot be of more assistance on this one.
Thank you, Tom! Your list of places to donate books is much appreciated.
Keep up the good work!
Best,
Patricia
Los Angeles
Thank you very much!
Hi Tom, I’ve got a couple hundred old law books – do you know anyone that would be interested in those? I’m in Los Angeles
Law books are notoriously tough for donations. I would usually suggest reaching out to a program that donates books to prisoners but I’m not aware of any in LA, sorry.
Hey,
I’m moving and have shelves of cookbooks, most of which have probably never been used, just looked at a few times. Anyplace special to donate cookbooks (cooking school etc.)?
Thanks.
Local libraries would be your best bet. Not aware of any cookbook specific places anywhere myself, sorry!
Hi Tom, I have about 75 boxes of NEW Early Readers. This collection of books is approved and recommended by The School Library Journal and I’m wanting to donate this week so that we can move our warehouse. Please call!!
Abedego Book Shoppe in Ventura, CA loves donations and we also give trade credit. The owner has been dealing with books for 51 years and has given over 300,000 books free to the public. He has helped ones who lose books in fires and currently working on a project to help restore libraries that where destroued in these terrible fires that hit the LA area. We are located in Ventura, 2682 E. Main
You should know that The Last Bookstore’s Rebook It program is a scam in which they collect donated books and then return them to the original distributor for sales credit. It directly harms distributors, publishers, and authors, and fails to serve the community they claim to support.
That is sad….. I was thinking of having The ReBook It delivery guys pick up the heavy books… Thanks for the warning.
Absolutely true. They return the books to their distributor undermining the book industry. They are scamming indie presses. Rebookit is a scam.