Thank you for donating! Here are some guidelines:
Donation Guidelines
First of all, THANK YOU to all who have donated or are thinking about donating books. Due to time and volume constraints, we can no longer always pick up donations. Please message to arrange your donation or dropoff. Your books keep the bus stocked! Here are the books we are always looking for:
We always want, or are still looking for:
1. Graphic novels of any kind (Babysitter's Club,Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, and YA graphic novels)
2. Mo Willems books (Elephant & Piggie, Pigeon, etc.)
3. Dr. Seuss
4. Board books in very good condition. Spanish books
6. Books in Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Chinese, Arabic, French, or any other world language. Recent YA books in good condition
8. Hardcover (or softcover in excellent condition) picture books in good-excellent condition. Unused coloring books (popular with pre-readers who still want to pick something they can “do” themselves).
10. Word Search or Sudoku (hugely popular at the Nelson County Pantry)
11. Crayons and colored pencils
12. Popular YA series or books
A note on adult books:
We are collecting certain categories of adult books. Here are the most requested items: small hardback sketchbooks or adult drawing books; books by African American authors like Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison; word searches; advanced Sudoku; popular fiction like John Grisham; adult coloring books; inspirational books; and cookbooks. We do not have a lot of storage for adult books, but please get in touch if you'd like to donate. Thank you!
Books we cannot use:
1. Books that are damaged in any way - torn spines, extremely creased covers, books that have been written on, water damage, dog-eared, stained, mildewed, etc.
2. Older nonfiction (please check with me about what you have)
3. Poetry (sadly, but so far, kids just aren’t choosing books of poetry or rhyme)
4. Textbooks or encyclopedias (please, I cannot use them and they are hard to donate)
5. Vintage children’s books that are damaged or show signs of age/wear
6. Older series like Sweet Valley High, Animorphs, Encyclopedia Brown (as much as I love these, kids are not, so far, choosing them).
Please see examples below:
Stack of colorful children's books including classics.
Some examples of books we cannot use
While we are grateful for the amazing community donations we receive, there are some books we cannot use. Here are some photographic examples of books we have to re-donate or recycle.