Trying to donate books

[Boedatives]

21 large boxes full. Some v new, some older but basically all literary classics.
So far, local hospixe has said they will charge £500 to come and collect (it's a 2 hour round trip for them).
What else can I do with them?
(I have a condition whereby I'm advised not to lift over 15kg as well so makes it tricky)

Community bookcase?
Our Tesco has one now.

I think you're going to end up having to bin most of them. The circumstances make it very difficult for you to do many or any of the suggestions.

Have you got an Oxfam bookshop near you? I would go in and have a chat about what they would like and how to transport it. Or advertise on Facebook free to collect to a book dealer?

Facebook - not the marketplace, an actual group. Look up local selling or bartering groups. In my experience there are people especially on the bartering ones who will take these. The principle is anti-waste, so folk with the time/inclination to sort and sell them might be on there.
I got rid of a relatives entire massive CD collection this way(at her request!)

What about your local secondary school. They probably have a library which they would gladly use your books in. I know ours does.

Agree with this - our local National Trust property is always seeking donations of secondhand books for their bookshop.

In the amount I have?

Also, care homes like books for their residents.....

Oxfam bookshop, Shelter bookshop, Freecycle. If you can't do heavy lifting then photograph each box and stick on Freecycle

It really depends what they are. School libraries will probably only want books relevant to the age group, in good condition, and that they haven't already got multiple copies of. Are they all fiction

Ziffit or Music Magpie. They will pay you and collect FOC.

Please don’t destroy them, OP! They’re only a problem if you try to give away the whole lot at once.

Can you divide them up and take a bag st a time (not too heavy) to every local charity shop, and supermarkets that have a book shelf? Join Bookcrossing and leave them, one by one, everywhere you go? Put a few at a time on your front garden wall, if you have one. Take them to secondhand bookshops. Contact online sellers to see if they’ll take them. Good luck. Books are blessings for someone.

No I'm obly there for 2-3 days.

Fb marketplace / free local donate it groups or your local book bin

Thank you for this thread, OP. I have the same problem, but have found some solutions here. I have found my local National Trust property will take books, and have booked a pickup from Anglo doorstep collections. I see that these won't work for you, but did you know you can request bags from Oxfam which you use to send donations (post-free) to them? I have done a few of these.

Otherwise, I know that I will have to pay for a house clearance for the house I have to empty, and most books will be cleared that way. I am keeping back the desirable books either for myself, or to donate.

Thanks, glad it's been helpful to you.

Wish I had more time, I know some are semi-valuable as my dad paid a bit for some.

Just another massive job on a long list of massive jobs and not much time

I’m having the same problem, and to be honest I really can’t see anyone wanting some of the books I have . A lot of boring old books on religion and an old algebra book being examples .

Depends on the Property. We have 2 close together ( in Suffolk) and can store books. If we had a huge donation there are several others in the area and can share them around. Already do that a bit- things that don't sell in one place sometimes are moved to another one.

Used Anglo Doorstep collections and definitely recommend them. They gave me a date, estimated time, live tracking and picked yp when they said, emailing me a picture to show they have the items. They also let me know that they would be in my area next week so could book again if needed.

Won't come to that area

Sorry, missed that they didn’t come to your area.

I did a Google looking for doorstep donations and they were one of the first to come up.

Charity bookshelf in supermarket or a local book exchange. Facebook free giving page.

I have weeded out the rare/possibly valuable books to send to Oxfam using their free postal service. The rest will go with house clearance, minus the ones I want to keep.

Some National Trust places might take a few.
Think you will have to take a few bags at a time to various places.

After my DM died, we had hundreds of books to clear from her home. As a family we chose the ones we were likely to read then took many others to a combination of

• local charity shops with current titles
• care homes with classics and easy readers,
• Tesco who have a bookcase selling 2nd hand books to raise funds for community events),
• GP surgery also had a bookshelf for 2nd hand books
• even the local railway station took a couple of boxes as they sold them for money to buy plants for the station platform etc.

We filled 4 book clases in our own home but still ended up with about a dozen bags of books that we couldn’t find new homes for and, in the end they were stored in the barn and then disposed of when we moved home a couple of years later.