Used Book Donations

About Used Book Donations

Library volunteers organize 3 massive used book sales in the basement of the Library comprised of the used books donated by the public. These sales are typically held in early Spring, mid to late August, and early to mid November. As used books are donated to the Library, volunteers sort, categorize, and then alphabetize by author’s last name each book to ensure the quality of the books and ease of shopping. 

Historically, these used book sales are held for a week at a time with the last day or last 2 days serving as period for shoppers to stock up on bags full of books for only $5 per bag. The Library provides the brown paper shopping bags for consistency, fairness. The Library accepts cash, check, and certain credit cards. Returns and exchanges are not permitted. Go to the event calendar at https://www.ghal.org/calendar/ to search for the exact date and time for upcoming used book sales at GHAL or YAPL.

What/ How to Donate Used Books

You are encouraged to donate like-new and gently-used books to them for these fundraisers. Donations are accepted nearly year-round during regular business hours. GHAL asks for your cooperation in providing good quality books that they will be able to sell. It’s a good rule to follow that if you wouldn’t include in your home something in the same condition, it’s best to recycle or upcycle instead of donating it.

PLEASE DO NOT PLACE BOOK DONATIONS IN OUTDOOR BOOK RETURNS. Donations should be made at the circulation desk by one of the library employees.

If any of the following conditions apply, please recycle or discard the item rather than donate.

  • Missing pages or covers
  • Stained or torn pages or covers
  • Pet, smoke or other stagnant odors
  • Evidence of mold or water damage

Volunteers sort and quality check each book that is donated. As you can imagine this can be a messy task that takes a great deal of time to complete before they can begin organizing by genre, alphabetizing, and finally shelving the books in the book sale area.

Throughout the years, these volunteers have identified several types of books that shoppers do not purchase as well as content that may no longer reflect accurate data. With that in mind, GHAL cannot accept

  • Textbooks
  • Encyclopedias
  • Atlases
  • Dictionaries
  • Yearbooks
  • Bibles or other religious prayer books

If you have any questions about what you can donation, when to donate, or how to donate, please call (724) 837-5620 during regular business hours.