Where Can I Donate Books I Don't Want?

Thinking of downsizing your book collection? Donating your unwanted books is a great way to give them a second life, with the added bonus of decluttering at the same time!

Deciding when it’s time to part with your beloved books can be tricky. Whilst it’s important to hang on to your absolute favourites, there’s little use in hanging on to books you know you’ll never read again. Especially if your shelves are overflowing! Books are made to be read and enjoyed, not sat on a shelf gathering dust. So, it only makes sense to pass them on and allow someone else to fall in love with them for the first time!

But where can you donate your books in the UK? Well, there are lots of options available and we’re going to run through them all right here!  

Charity Shops

Following the aftermath of Covid, many charities in the UK are struggling to make ends meet. So now is the perfect time to support those in need and participate in a bit of goodwill! As a book lover, you have an opportunity to put your collection of pre-loved books to good use by donating them to charity.

There are loads of book charities out there that aim to provide books to the nation’s most in need. But even charities that aren’t book-related often accept book donations, in fact, most of the charity shops you see on the high street will take your unwanted books off your hands to sell. Once sold, the money from your books will help the charity fund the vital work that it does.

Here are a few UK charities that you can donate your books to: Oxfam The Salvation Army The British Red Cross The Literacy Trust

Donating your books to a charity shop is a great way to give back and pass the joy of reading on to another. All you’ll have to do is find a shop that will take your books and drop them off. However, book donations are very popular within charity shops and require the use of their resources to sort through, price and sell them. It’s highly likely they might already be at capacity for the number of used books they can take on, so don’t be surprised if your books are turned away.  

WeBuyBooks

As the number one book-selling service in the UK, webuybooks is a great place for you to donate your pre-loved books. Now, you might think that selling your books isn’t quite as good of a deed as donating them to charity, but with webuybooks, it is! Each and every book that is sold to us will be found a new owner, giving it a second life. Plus, if you choose to use our charity donation feature, you’ll be able to donate the monetary value of your books to a charity of your choice!

Donating your books to a charity shop is a great way to help, but it requires time and resources to sell them and make money. Whereas selling your books to webuybooks and donating the money will allow the charity to put it straight towards the items that they need, with no expenditure.

So when you donate your books to webuybooks, you can feel happy knowing that your books will be passed on for another to love and you’ll be donating money to a wonderful cause too!

How Does it Work?

When you use our charity donation feature, the process of selling your books to us will remain the same as usual, but instead of entering your own payment details at checkout, you’ll choose to donate to charity. Simply choose a charity from the dropdown list and we’ll send your money straight to them! With free postage or home collection options, the process really couldn’t be easier. We’ll accept almost any book that you have to sell, including fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, textbooks, travel guides & much more!

Get Started

Libraries

The first place a lot of people think of when it comes to donating books is the library. Some libraries might take your unwanted books off your hands, but a lot don’t. What most people fail to consider is the resources required for a library to accept book donations. The library needs to accept, assess and store donations. Then they’ll need to process it to add to the online catalogue, plus add labels and barcodes and organise the new books on their shelves. All of this will require a lot more labour for the librarians, which will cost the library money.

Plus, whilst your used books might be in great condition, a lot won’t be. If like us, you’re precious about keeping your books pristine, you might be surprised at the state some people let their books get in. Libraries have no use for books that are beat up or unreadable, so it then becomes their responsibility to recycle them responsibly.

The type of books you have will also determine whether a library is the best place for you to donate your books. For instance, encyclopedias, textbooks and old non-fiction books won’t be accepted because they’re likely to contain out-of-date information.

If you’re thinking of donating your books to a local library, we recommend ringing them first to check whether they will accept them.

Nurseries and Schools

If you have a bunch of children’s books that your little ones have grown out of, your local nurseries and schools will more than likely take them off your hands. There’s not much better than passing on the joy that a great read brings to a new generation, right?

However, with this option, you’re limited to donating children’s books, so you’ll have to find a second source to donate the rest of your books.

Again, make sure you call ahead to check whether they will accept book donations.

Tips for Donating Books

• Wherever you donate, make sure you ask first. Especially if you plan on donating in bulk. There may be requirements for donations or specific times in which donations are accepted. Plus, even if somewhere accepted donations in the past, things change and you don’t want to take a trip for nothing.
• Make sure your books are in a good condition before you donate. Take a look at our condition guidelines for donating to WeBuyBooks.
• If your books aren’t in a sellable condition, find out how to recycle your books in this blog.