How Donating Books Helps Readers and Charities
A shelf of books that have already been read can do far more good passed on than left to gather dust. Understanding how donating books helps shows that a simple clear-out can support reading, raise money for charity and keep good books in use. This guide from Anglo Doorstep Collections explains the difference your donated books make.
Books are one of the easiest things to donate and one of the most worthwhile. They are rarely worn out after reading, they are wanted by people everywhere, and a free doorstep collection means you can pass them on without carrying heavy boxes anywhere.
- New readers
- Children
- Your chosen charity
- Local jobs
1 · Readers
Where your donated books go
When you donate books through our free doorstep collection service, they are taken away and sorted by hand at our warehouse. From there they are passed on where there is genuine demand for reading material. A novel, a children’s picture book or a reference title that you no longer need becomes something another reader will value.
This keeps good books in circulation. Reading material is always in demand, so a box of books from one home can give enjoyment, learning and information to people far beyond it.
Most of the books we collect are read again, by people who get a good book for less than the price of a new one. The full journey is on what happens to my books?
Why books matter
Books, reading and learning
Books carry value beyond the paper they are printed on. They support literacy, learning and language, they offer escape and entertainment, and they help people of every age develop and stay curious. Children’s books in particular are precious, because they encourage a love of reading early in life.
When you donate books rather than discard them, you help keep that value alive. A title that has done its job in your home can go on to inform or delight someone who would not otherwise have had it.
Every age
Books for readers of every age
One of the strengths of a book donation is its range. A single clear-out often includes children’s picture books and early readers, novels and short stories, cookbooks, hobby and craft titles, study guides and reference books. Each of those serves a different reader and a different need.
Children
Children’s books help build early literacy and a lifelong reading habit.
Learners
Study and reference titles support learning at every stage.
Readers
Fiction offers enjoyment, escape and a window into other lives.
Because demand spans every age and interest, almost any readable book you pass on will find someone who is glad to have it, which makes books one of the most consistently useful things to donate.
2 · Children
Children who get a book of their own
Not every child grows up with books at home. The National Literacy Trust has found that around 1 in 10 children and young people in the UK don’t have a book of their own.
That is why we pass children’s books on to The Children’s Book Project, a charity that gives books to children who need them. We bring them good, clean children’s books from our collections, and their volunteers sort them and send them on to children, so a picture book your family has outgrown can become the first book another child owns.
Read more on donating children’s books to The Children’s Book Project.
3 · Charity
How donating books supports charity
Donated books also raise money for good causes. A large percentage of the proceeds from the items we collect goes to our partnered charities, which include Action for Children, Advance, the RSPCA and Together for Short Lives. When you book a collection you can also choose to have a tree planted through Ecologi.
That means a box of unwanted books does two jobs at once. The books themselves go on to be read again, and the proceeds turn into practical support for children, families, animals and the environment.
RSPCA
Rescuing, caring for and rehoming animals in need, and working to prevent cruelty.
Action for Children
Practical help and protection for children and young people across the UK.
Together for Short Lives
Support for seriously ill children and their families, working with children’s hospices.
Advance
Free, confidential support for women, including women facing danger at home.
You choose your charity when you book, and every collection adds to the total our donors have raised.
4 · Jobs
People in work
Every collection is work for real people: the drivers who collect from your street, and the team at our warehouse who sort every book by hand and decide where each one can be used again.
5 · The planet
The environmental side of donating books
Books are heavy and bulky, and large numbers are thrown away every year while still perfectly readable. Sending them to waste loses the paper, energy and effort that went into making them. Donating books keeps them in use, avoids unnecessary waste and means fewer new copies need to be printed. It is a small, easy choice that supports the wider goal of keeping usable goods out of landfill.
Books that can’t be read again are pulped and made into recycled paper, far better than ending up at the tip. More on how donating books helps the planet and why old books shouldn’t go in the bin.
By our own estimate, every kilo of books read again instead of printed new saves about 1 kg of CO2e. Try the green calculator to see roughly what your clear-out could save.
Making your donation count
What books you can donate
Almost any reusable book is welcome, including novels, children’s books, cookbooks, biographies, reference books, study guides and general paperbacks. The main requirement is condition: books should be clean, dry and complete, because they will be re-homed for genuine reuse. Titles that are damp, badly damaged or falling apart are better kept separate. Boxing books firmly and keeping the boxes a manageable weight makes collection day quick and easy.
The full list is on what books can I donate?, and booking, packing and collection day are covered step by step on how do I donate my books?
Related reading
Related reading
To learn more about how your donations help and the difference reuse makes, explore the guides below.
Ready to give
Donate your books today
Donating books is a simple way to support reading, raise money for charity and reduce waste, all from one easy collection. The books you no longer need can go on to be enjoyed by someone else while doing good along the way.
If you have books ready to pass on, browse our Charity Collections Near You page and book a free doorstep collection. Box them up, leave them out by 7am on the day, and we will take care of the rest. In the north, see our book donations in Yorkshire.
Ready to donate your books?
It’s free, you don’t need to be at home, and you choose the charity your donation supports.