How to donate books: where yes, where no, and what to check first

Extra shelves weigh physically and morally: you gifted what you could, sold what had a market, and the rest? Donating feels like the ethical exit, but not every destination accepts every volume or timing. Many institutions have protocols, insurance, lack of space, or policies that exclude genres. Donating badly (surprise boxes at peak hour) creates sorting cost and trash for whoever wanted to help. This guide covers universal criteria, differences by receiver type, and country notes for Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, and Portugal, plus pointers for the United States if your readers are there. At the end we separate donating as an individual from calling a group donation on Librarius.

Before the country map, four filters work almost everywhere. Condition: no mold, moisture, loose pages, heavy markup, or persistent smoke smell. Currency: 1990s encyclopedias, old software guides, expired exam prep, and outdated medical books usually go straight to recycling. Fit: adult material to an elementary school, aggressive self-help at a children’s hospital, or harmful texts do not belong even if «new». Volume: one negotiated box is a gift; ten unscheduled boxes can be a logistics emergency. Call or write, describe quantity and type, ask for a time window.

• Usually accepted: fiction in good shape, children’s/YA without tears, comics in good condition, poetry, recent popular nonfiction.
• Almost never: loose magazines, ad pamphlets, wet books, photocopied binders, unsolicited racist or explicit content.
• Depends: textbooks (only if the current curriculum uses them), religion (faith centers yes; secular school sometimes not), heavily marked secondhand for a lending library.
• Better to sell or swap: collector editions, valuable signed copies, expensive niche; donation may not maximize their destination.

If you doubt condition, describing used book condition uses the same vocabulary as the marketplace: it helps the receiver and you if you end up swapping instead of donating. When the issue is not destination but «what do I do with so many read titles?», the guide on what to do with books you already read orders options (lend, gift, sell, donate) before you pack boxes.

In large cities, swap libraries or neighborhood book fridges may accept one or two titles without an appointment, but not pallets. Universities may take recent nonfiction for a faculty library; ask about duplicate ISBN before bringing a box. Animal shelters rarely want books unless there is an explicit campaign; do not mix causes without notice.

In Spain, the Public Library Network and municipal libraries manage donations with their own criteria: many accept only what enters the collection (reader demand, shelf space, impeccable condition). Do not assume «public» means «any box». Ask at your neighborhood library; sometimes they refer to bookmobiles or swap projects. Cáritas, Red Cross, and local food banks sometimes have book points or seasonal drives; acceptance varies by branch. Solidarity secondhand bookstores (Libros Solidarios model or other local NGOs) may take selected lots for resale with social aims.

Schools: the PTA or school library coordinates; textbooks only if they match the current publisher and year. Public hospitals usually require agreement with volunteering or a foundation; do not leave bags in the ER. Prisons: strict protocol, lists of allowed publishers, bans on certain formats; prior contact mandatory. Municipal recycling points are not for healthy books: take them to paper recycling only when unusable.

Mexico and Central America: community, school, and rural library

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In Mexico, state public libraries and the library network (BNAM as reference) set policies, but the useful door is the municipal library or the specific school librarian. Many rural schools welcome children’s books and material in clear Spanish; avoid mixing other languages without confirming. NGOs like Aldeas Infantiles or community libraries often publish seasonal calls: donating off-cycle fills warehouses. In Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador, churches and cooperatives sometimes run community libraries; prioritize children’s titles and school manuals agreed with the principal.

Do not send international boxes without customs process and a named receiver: cost lands on whoever did not ask for the load. Better a local channel or an organization that already imports books with permission.

Argentina: popular and neighborhood libraries (BPBA network in Buenos Aires province as reference) accept with selection; charity book fairs and education foundations publish spot needs. Chile: Biblioredes and community libraries ask for coordination; rural schools value children’s books in good condition. Uruguay: similar public network, emphasis on calling first. Colombia: BiblioRed and departmental libraries; reading programs in low-resource regions often ask for themed lists (children’s, women authors, popular science).

Overall, Latin America shares warehouse scarcity: a few curated boxes beat an emotional shipping container. If your books are in English, confirm a bilingual receiver or university; do not dump on a primary school without explicit need.

Brazil combines municipal and state public libraries (National Public Library System as framework) with thousands of informal community libraries. For donation, contact your city public library or recognized projects (e.g. libraries in health centers, literacy NGOs). Books in Portuguese, children’s, and contemporary literature usually fit best; Spanish books only with an institution serving migrants or border areas. Public schools may accept via parent associations; document provenance if asked. Avoid donating outdated ENEM or entrance-exam manuals without confirming the current edition.

In Portugal, municipal libraries and the National Public Reading Network set guidance; call ahead and ask about intake campaigns. Bodies like CNAI or integration projects may accept books in immigrants’ languages if aligned with their audience. In the United States, policies vary by county: public libraries often accept small donations for book sales (Friends of the Library) rather than shelf additions; schools want age-appropriate hardcovers; prisons require approved vendors or lists in many states. Goodwill and Little Free Library stewards accept select titles but are not dumpsites. Always check «donation guidelines» on the website before driving over.

Recycling is not moral failure: it is the right exit for unusable copies. Wet paper, visible mold, pages separated from binding, twenty-year-old law books, or expired travel guides take space on NGO trucks already full. Sort before packing: one contaminated box can get the whole lot rejected. Check your municipality’s drop-off or paper bin; some accept hardcovers with cardboard cover removed. Do not use clothing donation bins as book dumps: it diverts useful clothes and creates extra work.

If the book has collector value, donating to a school library is not the best destination: appraising at a used bookstore or selling transparently with pricing a used book can fund other curated donations. The goal is for the copy to reach someone who will use it, not to leave your shelf by any means.

Hospitals prioritize hygiene and calm. If they accept books, it is usually via literary volunteering or a children’s waiting room, not every ward. Magazines may be banned for infection control in some centers. Prisons: content blacklists (explicit violence, criminal instructions, material that compromises security). Many systems require new or used paperback without metal. Migrant shelter NGOs need dictionaries, language material, and fiction in the community’s language; asking avoids loading a warehouse with novels nobody can read.

Donating as an individual is direct contact with the receiver. Organizing a collection is calling other readers, fixing destination, minimum copy condition, map, schedule, and joint delivery. On Librarius, the bookshelf-donation event type exists for the second case: in-person, destination on the listing, no price or swap. The guide to solidarity events and book donation explains what to publish, how to close the day, and what the app does not handle (permits, transport, agreement with the institution). It does not replace calling the destination: the organizer must have confirmation they will receive the load.

If you only want to clear shelves without an event, combine selective donation, in-person book swap, and marketplace sale by value. Mass donation without curation shifts cost to the volunteer who sorts trash.

1. Written or phone confirmation from the receiver and contact person.
2. Sorting: separate unusables for recycling, do not mix them «just in case».
3. Light cleaning, sturdy boxes, label «books» with approximate count.
4. Short contents list (20 children’s, 30 fiction) if they ask for inventory.
5. Photo of delivery receipt if the institution issues one (useful for corporate CSR).

After donating, update your personal library: what left is no longer at home. You do not need to review every donated title; clearing mental space is enough. If the receiver posts thanks, share their link in your club; it strengthens future drives. Also note which destinations worked: the next move will be faster if you already know whom to call and which box not to repeat.