Have you reached that chapter in your life where you’re looking to give away your used books?
Well, if you’re in the twin cities region, we’ve got you covered. Here, we run through where to donate books in Minneapolis, covering a variety of charitable organizations, libraries, and used bookstores for all different types of book donations.
Books for Africa
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 717 Prior Ave. N, Suite B, St. Paul, MN 55104
Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-3pm
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books, bibles, textbooks/dictionaries/medical books published in the last 10 years, school and office supplies
Type of Books Not Accepted: Encyclopedias, magazines, American history books, music books, cookbooks
Website: Books for Africa
How to Donate
Bring your gently used books to the Books for Africa warehouse at the address above. Generally, any kids’ books are welcome. Note that if you want to donate bibles, you should put the book/s in a separate box and mark “religious texts.”
Why We Love Books for Africa
Through their Minneapolis and Atlanta branches, Books for Africa collect gently used books and ship them to incredibly in-need libraries throughout Africa.
Founder Tom Warth started this thing way back in 1988 after visiting Uganda and being surprised by how few books the children there had access to. He came back to Minnesota and devised a plan to collect discarded books from schools, libraries and publishers and now Books for Africa send thousands of books each year to many different countries on the African continent: a great cause!
Women’s Prison Book Project
Donation Type: Mail
Location: 3751 17th Ave S, Minneapolis MN 55407
Type of Books Accepted: Mysteries, romance, fantasy, horror, true crime, craft/art books, DIY books, dictionaries, health topics, alcohol/drug recovery books, LGBTQ topics
Website: WPBP
How to Donate
When I first came across the WPBP, they had an in-store donation bin at a local bookshop, but now they are purely a mail-in service. Use the address above to mail your books.
Why We Love the Women’s Prison Book Project
Incarcerated women often don’t have great access to books, particularly books that can help them learn and grow. WPBP provides women in prisons all around the country with free reading materials.
They receive bundles of letters requesting books, and the ones listed above are the topics they are asked about the most. It’s a great cause and one can only imagine their joy when these women receive their books!
Reach Out and Read Minneapolis
Donation Type: Drop off
Location: 3800 American Blvd West, Suite 1500 – 8013, Bloomington, MN 55431
Hours: Arrange a drop off time at their website below
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books
Type of Books Not Accepted: Books about religion/religious themes, violent books
Website: Reach Out and Read MN
How to Donate
At the link above, there’s a form to fill out regarding your donation. Once you’ve sent this off, they’ll reach out to you to arrange a drop off time at their Bloomington address.
Why We Love Reach Out and Read
They partner with doctors and clinics around Minnesota to promote reading as a building block for a child’s brain and imagination, when they go for their doctor’s visit. A friendly book can make these visits much more agreeable for a child, and the doctors who participate will talk to the child about the book and really try to engage them and importantly, their family, in reading.
Simply put, Reach Out and Read believe “books build better brains!”
Numbers don’t lie! Thanks to the help of donated books, over 170,000 children are impacted by Reach Out and Read’s book programs, with over 300,000 books donated annually and over 300 clinics participating throughout Minnesota.
Friends of the Hennepin County Library
Donation Type: Drop off
Primary Location: Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401
Hours: Mon-Thu 9-8; Fri-Sat 9-5; Sun 12-5
Other Locations: See all Hennepin County Library locations here
Website: Support HCLIB
How to Donate
Donations are always welcomed at the Central Library branch, but you may want to reach out to your nearest branch to confirm the Friends accept donations there.
The easiest way to see which branches will be accepting books is to take a look at the updated list of upcoming book sales at the link above. There is no shortage of book sales taking place, making the Hennepin County Library system a useful resource for anyone looking to donate used books around Minneapolis.
The Free Book Buggie
Donation Types: Drop off, Pick up from you
Primary Locations: Check their events calendar to see the Book Buggie’s locations for the month.
Burnsville High School Location: This is a permanent drop off point, but check the calendar to see when it will be there.
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books, baby books, young adult, multicultural and multilingual books
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, adult books
Website: The Free Book Buggie
How to Donate
Check their events calendar linked to above. The Burnsville HS location is permanent, but you’ll need to check the calendar for when to drop there.
Alternatively, the Free Book Buggie can pick up your books. Just reach out to them on the contact page on their site.
Why We Love The Free Book Buggie
They’ve given out a huge number of books (over 350,000) since their inception in 2018 across all of Minnesota. Founded by Debbie and her daughter Meghan after a successful trial at Meghan’s elementary school, Debbie and her coworkers now drive the bus packed full of books to various schools and establishments across the Twin Cities, and beyond.
This is an awesome cause to support!
Friends of the Ramsey County Libraries
Donation Type: Drop off
Primary Location: 4560 North Victoria Street, Shoreview, MN 55126
Hours: Vary by branch
Other Locations: Mounds View, Roseville, White Bear
Type of Books Accepted: Children’s books, young adult books, fiction/non-fiction, “coffee table” books, foreign language books
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, encyclopedias, textbooks, manuals/reference books more than 5 years old
Website: RCL Friends
How to Donate
Bring your books to your local branch. Just be sure you don’t bring more than two grocery bags’ worth of books.
Why We Love the Ramsey County Libraries
The Friends run three bookstores and two “book carts” at different Ramsey County Library branches. Your donations are vital to keeping these libraries and their awesome programs running!
Literacy Minnesota
Donation Types: Drop off (appointment), host a book drive
Location: 700 Raymond Avenue, Suite 180 Saint Paul, MN 55114-1780
Hours: Appointment only
Type of Books Accepted: Books appropriate for ages pre-k to fifth grade
Type of Books Not Accepted: Religious books, encyclopedias, textbooks, teacher guides, adult/young adult books
Website: Literacy Minnesota
How to Donate
This isn’t as easy as just dropping books off. Literacy Minnesota needs you to fill out the donation form on their site, and they’ll arrange a time for you to drop.
Alternatively, they encourage you to host your own book drive and can help you with this.
Why We Love Literacy Minnesota
Although they only desire children’s books for their donations, they do a lot of community work with people of all ages.
The migrant community in the Twin Cities often has a literacy gap, and through programs such as their Open Door Learning Center, non-English speakers can learn and read.
Their summer literacy programs are also vital for foreign children who are still assimilating to life here. Your books can directly help kids like that.
Washington County Libraries
Donation Type: Drop off
Locations: See all locations on our Book Donation Map
Hours: Vary by branch
Type of Books Accepted: Hardcovers, paperbacks
Type of Books Not Accepted: Magazines, textbooks
Website: Wash Co. Lib Donations & Book Sales
How to Donate
Contact your local branch to see what they’re currently accepting and their hours for drop offs. Book sale proceeds support collections and programming for all Washington County Libraries.
Paperback Exchange
Donation Type: Trade/exchange
Location: 2227 W 50th St, Minneapolis, MN 55419
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-6pm
Type of Books Accepted: Anything in good condition
Website: Paperback Exchange
How to Donate
Trade your books in at this popular bookstore for a store credit. You’ll get 70% off used books and 25% off new books with your credit.
The Book House in Dinkytown
Donation Type: Trade/exchange
Location: 1316 4th St SE UNIT 201, Minneapolis, MN 55414
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-8; Sat 11-8; Sun 11-6
Type of Books Accepted: Textbooks, classics, literary fiction
Type of Books Not Accepted: Outdated textbooks, magazines, romance, encyclopedia sets post-1920
Website: Book House Dinkytown
How to Donate
This is a great option if you’re looking to turn in some textbooks or rarer books for an appraisal. Textbooks are notoriously hard to donate, but The Book House is probably your best bet for this in the twin cities.
Places to Donate Children’s Books in Minneapolis
If your kids have outgrown some books and it’s time to make space on their shelves, you’re lucky in that you have a host of options for donating kids’ books in the Twin Cities. Click each organization below to be taken to their individual listing above.
Places to Donate Dictionaries in Minneapolis
There often aren’t many places that will accept gently used dictionaries, but fortunately Books for Africa and the Women’s Prison Book Project will accept them!
Places to Donate Textbooks in Minneapolis
Again, it’s not common, but Books for Africa will accept textbooks published within the last 10 years, to send to Africa.
Can You Donate Religious Texts in the Twin Cities?
A lot of the organizations we’ve highlighted specifically say they will not accept religious texts of any kind, and unfortunately there is nowhere that explicitly says they’ll accept things like old bibles.
There you have it! A thorough “read-through” of all the best places to donate a variety of different kinds of books in Minneapolis.
The only hard part now will be choosing where you go. Remember: keep your literature local!
Hey Tom,
Do you have a suggestion for cookbook donations in the Mpls/St Paul area? Thank you!
Hi Lori, I would look at contacting the Women’s Prison Book Project as this would most closely suit those types of book.
Hennepin county library downtown no longer accepts donations. They suggested Plymouth location. Thanks!
I have a bunch of German books along English.books. Also I have some antique German books and would like to sell / or donate. Do you have any suggestions for me.
Hi Tom!
Awesome list and great ways to donate books!
I’m a local children’s book author and am collecting books to donate to affordable housing resident libraries in the Twin Cities area. Any chance I could get on this list?
Hi Karri, sure – please send me an email with your info: localbookdonations@gmail.com
I have some EMT books some still have the wrapper on them. They are new.
Where can I donate them.
Hi Nancy, please try the women’s prison book project. They may have use for them as they get requests from inmates who want to better themselves for a life post-prison.
Hi, I have an extensive parenting book collection I would like to go where it can do the most good…?
Libraries can make use of these, as can the Women’s Prison Book Project. Thanks!