Book, A/V & Game Donations

Donation Procedures

We are currently accepting donations of gently used books, DVDs, puzzles, and board/card/skill games at all Ramsey County Library locations. The Maplewood library reopened on November 4, 2023 and we have resumed accepting donated items there so you may now bring them to any of the seven Library branches.

Please note and adhere to the following guidelines:

• Book donations are limited to two grocery bags or similarly sized boxes per donor, per day.
• Donations can be made any time during regular library hours.
• Please be sure to secure game and puzzle boxes, lids and pieces to keep intact.

Patron donations are essential to the success of the Friends’ Used Bookstores & Carts. Thank you for your support!

DONATIONS WE WELCOME

Items in good condition including:

• Fiction & non-fiction
• Children’s & young adult books
• Coffee table books
• Foreign-language books
• Board games & puzzles (secure lids)
• DVDs, audio CDs, vinyl records & audio books

DONATIONS WE CANNOT ACCEPT

We CANNOT accept items that are moldy, stained, water damaged, torn, have broken spines, missing pages, or writing or highlighting.

• No VHS tapes or audio cassettes
• No magazines or encyclopedias
• No textbooks, computer books, reference books, or manuals more than 5 years old

Please recycle items we cannot accept in the convenience of your own home.

Thank You!

Thanks to our wonderful customers, book donors, and volunteers, the Friends organization typically raises over $65,000 annually from the sale of used books and media materials. Proceeds from our Used Bookstores and Carts support programming and collections at all seven Ramsey County Library locations. Plus, more than $33,000 worth of books donated by you went immediately onto library shelves for lending to other readers last year.

When a private book donation is received at a branch library, it goes through a sorting process to determine if it should be:

• Placed on Ramsey County Library shelves for borrowing
• Donated to Ramsey County food shelves, healthcare facilities, homeless shelters, or correction facilities
• Sold in one of the Friends Used Bookstores or Carts
• Sent to Thriftbooks, our online sales partner

Thank you for your support!