Text Book Donation

After I graduated college I didn't know what to do with some of my textbooks, they were expensive and the buy back program was minimal - not really worth it.  At the time I tried half.com and did sell a few books that way.  But after a while, I forgot to keep listing them and I rarely used the books I wanted to keep as reference.  4 moves later, the books were still in boxes in the attic or basement untouched.  If I had a whole room as a library, maybe I'd put them on a shelf, but I don't have much space.  

I could have donated the books to libraries or other book sales but they would probably be recycled.  I didn't want all those books to go to waste.

I started to do some research to find out where I can donate these books for their intended purpose - to teach.  And who better to teach than those that want to learn...but don't have the resources?  OK, so the books are several years old - but they were mostly science and math - and that doesn't change tremendously for the 'basics'.  

Books for Africa was the charity I decided to donate my books to.  I had to ship my books to a warehouse in Georgia (It cost me $35 for about 70 pounds) and then they collect enough books to get a crate to ship to Africa.  If you don't have books to donate, you can donate to their funds for the crate shipment - it is about 50 cents per book.  After my donation, I received a standard thank you letter to use as a tax write-off.

At the time I posted this, Books for Africa accepted the following (but check their website for the most up to date information).  

Books For Africa Warehouse-Atlanta 2971 Olympic Industrial Drive SE, Suite B Smyrna, GA 30080   USA

Books For Africa accepts:

• 15 years old or newer popular fiction and nonfiction reading books (soft and hard cover).
• 1998 or newer publish date primary, secondary, and college textbooks (soft and hard cover).
• 2003 or newer reference books such as encyclopedias and dictionaries.
• 1998 or newer publish date medical, nursing, IT, and law books.
• Bibles are sent when requested by African recipients. We will accept Bibles or religious books, please place them in a box separate from other donations and mark the box as “Religious texts.”
• School/office supplies—paper, pencils, pens, wall charts, maps, etc.

Acceptable books are gently used and relevant to an African reader.

Books For Africa does NOT accept:

• Magazines or journals of any kind, including academic journals.
• Home decorating or wedding books.
• Cookbooks.
• Ethnocentric books, such as the biography of Abraham Lincoln or the history of Ohio.
• Foreign language books except for French books. French novels and dictionaries are welcome.
• American history or civics.
• Music books for K–12.
• Murder mysteries or anything with “kill,” “die,” “murder,” etc. in the title.

Next time you are cleaning out the garage, basement or attic, and find books you aren't using, I implore you to donate them.  Books for Africa might be a great place to donate to for items you know your local library will not accept.