Book Donations, Why They Matter
The Friends of the Almaden Library request donations of gently used books and CDs and sells them to raise money for the library. Since the new library opened, the Friends have held two used book sales each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. There is also a display of books and media items in the Lobby Sale Area, near The Oasis Cafe, for sale at all times, when the building is open. Sales here are on the honor system at the same low rates as during the large book sales. Customers shop here so frequently that annual profits from this Lobby Sale Area are a large part of our fundraising efforts.
How to Donate Books
We greatly appreciate your generous donations in support of the Almaden Library. To help us successfully benefit the library, please follow our book-donation guidelines:
1. We can only sell books in very good condition. They should:
be clean with intact bindings and covers
have no musty smell, wrinkled or water damaged pages, or stains
have pages with very little yellowing or browning at edges
no underlining and no highlighting
2. We do not accept or sell any of the following:
Cassette tapes (original or copied)
DVDs and CDs (until our Spring 2025 Book Sale)
Video tapes
Law books
Magazines (including Nat'l Geographic)
Encyclopedias
Used coloring or work books
3. We can only use the following books if they are less than five (5) years old:
Travel books
Health or medical advice books
Test preparation manuals
4. We can only use the following books if they are less than ten (10) years old:
Computer books
5. Please check every book for items left inside, such as photos, checks, credit cards, cash, membership cards, etc.
6. Please deposit books in the bins located to the left and right of the library entry. Donations of 25 items or less may be left inside the donation bins. Please do not leave donated items on top of the donation bins or on the floor in front of the donation bins. For donations of more than 25 items, please contact Almaden Friends at [email protected].
For materials we cannot accept, consider contacting the following:
Your neighborhood school or local college
Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT)
Palo Alto Friends of the Library
Cupertino Friends of the Library
Santa Clara Friends of the Library
Goodwill Industries
Savers
Local charity shops
In addition, while it is always sad to say good bye, many books need to be recycled to produce more paper products, including new books. All home recyclers accept books in your bin.
Book Donation to Outside Organizations
FAL has received regular requests from various organizations requesting our donation of books to them for causes they support. In response to those requests, FAL decided to formulate the following donation policies:
• Book donations will be limited to non-profit organizations whose intent is to place free books in the hands of children with the goal of promoting literacy and love of reading.
• Two (2) cases of books will be donated to the selected organization at the completion of each FAL bi-annual sale; the selected organization will provide their own standard-size boxes intended for that purpose.
• The FAL Board will make selection of the organization thirty (30) days prior to each of our bi-annual sales (i.e. March and October).
• FAL will partner with the selected organization to promote opportunity for book sale patrons to purchase and donate.
If your organization wishes to be considered, please complete and forward the below information to [email protected] no later than March 1st or October 1st, as applicable. If you have any questions, please send an email to [email protected].
- Organization Name:
- Organization website (if applicable):
- Organization Purpose:
- Organization History:
- Intended Use of Books Donated:
- Date Required By:
- Contact Name and Phone Number:
- Contact Email Address:
• Book donations will be limited to non-profit organizations whose intent is to place free books in the hands of children with the goal of promoting literacy and love of reading.
• Two (2) cases of books will be donated to the selected organization at the completion of each FAL bi-annual sale; the selected organization will provide their own standard-size boxes intended for that purpose.
• The FAL Board will make selection of the organization thirty (30) days prior to each of our bi-annual sales (i.e. March and October).
• FAL will partner with the selected organization to promote opportunity for book sale patrons to purchase and donate.
If your organization wishes to be considered, please complete and forward the below information to [email protected] no later than March 1st or October 1st, as applicable. If you have any questions, please send an email to [email protected].
- Organization Name:
- Organization website (if applicable):
- Organization Purpose:
- Organization History:
- Intended Use of Books Donated:
- Date Required By:
- Contact Name and Phone Number:
- Contact Email Address: