We Love Your Old Books (and Vinyl)

Here are our guidelines for donating them.

First, a big thank you!

We are a mission-driven business seeking to find new homes for old books and make them accessible to our customers at affordable prices. We are very grateful to our community for helping us accomplish this goal by donating thousands of books since our store opened in November 2021!

UPDATE SPRING 2024: Currently Accepting Book (and Vinyl) Donations

To contact us about your donations, please email us at janet@hvbooksforhumanity.com

  • We request 40 books or fewer for in-store drop off donations.

  • Vinyl record donations are also welcome (no quantity limit on vinyl).

  • For larger book collections or moving/estate sale donations, we are sometimes able to make home pickup visits.

  • Please email us a few photos of your book stacks before dropping them off. We’ll respond promptly to let you know what we need based on our current inventory. We welcome most book genres but not all (see below for books we DO or DON’T accept).

  • All donations must be in very good resale condition (see “condition requested” guidelines below).

  • We are NOT a nonprofit, so we can’t give you a tax receipt, but we will give you store credit for “pre-loved” (used) books as a thank you for your donation!

Book Donation Guidelines

 Quantity Limit:

  • We accept 40 books or less per donation at the store.

  • For larger book collections or moving/estate sale donations, we are sometimes able to make home visits.

  • We don’t limit the number for in-store Vinyl donations.

 Book Condition Requested: Very Good

We stock books that are in Very Good condition. We can't accept books with any of these issues because we are unable to sell them:

  • no moisture damage, mold, or mildew

  • no excessive dirt or dust

  • no stained, yellowed, or torn pages or covers

  • no broken bindings or missing book jackets

  • no highlighting or underlining, or heavy wear of any kind

 Books we DO ACCEPT:

We welcome most book genres, including:

Children’s and Young Adult Books, Biographies and Memoirs, Business Books, Cookbooks, Fiction (our bestselling category and the books we need the most), Foreign Language Books (especially books in Spanish), Graphic Novels and Manga, History and Politics, Home and Garden, Hudson Valley History and Culture, Music and Dance, Mysteries and Thrillers, Parenting, Philosophy and Ethics, Photography and Art, Poetry and Essays, Race and Gender, Religion and Spirituality, Self-Help and Personal Growth, Science and Nature, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Sports, Travel, Theater and Film, and Rare and Collectible Books.

 Books we DON'T ACCEPT (because they are hard to sell)

  • Textbooks and Library Books

  • Dictionaries, Encyclopedias and Study Guides (we DO accept Foreign Language and ESL Dictionaries and Study Guides).  

  • Outdated Reference Books, Professional Books and Technology Books

  • Reader’s Digest Books and Time-Life Books

  • Books in poor condition (see "condition requested" guidelines above)

Other Donations we DO ACCEPT:

  • Vinyl Records (Good+ condition, no water or mold damage, currently no classical)

  • Puzzles and Games (Good+ condition, all pieces intact)

 An Invitation to Come and Shop

We are SO grateful to all our book donors, and we welcome you to come back to the store and become book shoppers (don't forget to bring the store credit book coupons you’ll receive for donating!). The more books we sell, the more room we'll have for future donations!