The Free Book Bus - a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Charlottesville, VA

The
Free Book Bus

The Free Book Bus The Free Book Bus The Free Book Bus
  • Home
  • About us
  • Our bus!
  • FAQ
  • Calendar
  • How to donate
  • Contact us
  • Donating used books?
  • Thank you
  • Community Partners
  • Media
  • Financials & Board
  • Merchandise! Coming soon
  • Starting a book bus
  • More
    • Home
    • About us
    • Our bus!
    • FAQ
    • Calendar
    • How to donate
    • Contact us
    • Donating used books?
    • Thank you
    • Community Partners
    • Media
    • Financials & Board
    • Merchandise! Coming soon
    • Starting a book bus
  • Sign In

  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • My Account
  • Sign out

The
Free Book Bus

The Free Book Bus The Free Book Bus The Free Book Bus

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • Home
  • About us
  • Our bus!
  • FAQ
  • Calendar
  • How to donate
  • Contact us
  • Donating used books?
  • Thank you
  • Community Partners
  • Media
  • Financials & Board
  • Merchandise! Coming soon
  • Starting a book bus

Account


  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • My Account

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 (Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, and older kid graphic novels like New Kid, Roller Girl or Hey Kiddo)

2. Mo Willems books (Elephant & Piggie, Pigeon, etc.)

3. Dr. Seuss

4. Board books in very good condition

5. Spanish books

6. Books in Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Chinese, Arabic, French, or any other world language

7. Recent YA books in good condition

8. Hardcover (or softcover in excellent condition) picture books in good-excellent condition

9. 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 for PACEM guests, and for adult clients at the Nelson County Pantry. Here are the things that are most often requested: small hardback sketch books or adult drawing books (very popular at PACEM for something to do in the evenings), books by African American authors like Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, word search, advanced Sudoku, popular fiction like John Grisham (several guests at the PACEM shelter ask for his books), 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 Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sweet Valley High, Animorphs, Encyclopedia Brown (as much as I love these, kids are not, so far, choosing them).


Please see examples below:

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. 

Find out more

Copyright © 2025 The Free Book Bus - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

DeclineAccept