How To Help
How To Donate Books To Charity
Whether it's recalling your favourite stories from your childhood, or thinking back to how you learnt at school, books are likely to have played a major role in your life. Unfortunately, the joy of having books to read is something that's easily taken for granted. Books that are hidden away in storage with no chance of being read are of little use to anyone.
Why Donate Books To Charity?
There are many reasons why you might donate books to charity, particularly if you have lots of old ones you never read. Plenty of charities will be overjoyed to receive old books, which can help in many ways. Some, however, may only accept donations of new books.
From early learning books to picture books, educational textbooks, fictional novels, dictionaries and encyclopedias, what you no longer have use for could go a long way to helping someone else. If you're trying to create some more space or having a big clear out, donate your books rather than throwing them out.
How To Help With Donating Books To Charity
DONATE YOUR OLD BOOKS
So many charities across the UK have shops that help to raise funds, and books are often a staple of those stores. Oxfam GB, for instance, raises £1.6 Million every month from sales of donated books. There are also lots of charities that send second-hand books to areas in need, including textbooks that can go to schools, colleges and universities in Africa.
DONATE NEW BOOKS
If you have links to the publishing sector, you could play a major role in the donation of new books. Charities such as Book Aid International - which specialises in providing new and recently published books to people who don't have access to them - heavily relies on the book trade. This charity in particular states that 94% of the books it provides are donated by the trade. If you work in the publishing sector, you could help with donating books that could be returns, overstocks or unwanted office copies.
VOLUNTEER AT A WAREHOUSE
When books are donated to charity they need to be dealt with - in regard to organisation, storage and distribution. You can help with this by donating your time at a warehouse, whether it's for a charity that's selling them directly, or sending them abroad, or to be used somewhere else in the UK.
ATTEND BOOK FESTIVALS
The Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place every August in the Scottish capital. It's the largest festival of its kind in the world, with around 220,000 people attending over 900 events in 2017. By visiting a festival like this, you can help more people gain access to different authors and events, support outreach programmes and inspire those of all ages to enjoy and learn through books.
HOLD A BOOK SALE
If you're looking for a positive way to get rid of a large amount of old books, why not hold your own book sale? You could team up with friends and family, or encourage other people to bring their books along for selling, and donate the proceeds to charity.
Things To Know Before You Donate
If difficulty in moving books is affecting your decision on what to do, there are charities that will come and collect them and other items from your home.
Where To Get Started
Whether you're looking to donate books to charity or volunteer with an organisation that specialises in collecting and redistributing books, People's Postcode Lottery is proud to work with wonderful charities such as:
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Our players have raised over £15 Million for these charities so far, and you'll help this number to grow when you sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery.
Last updated: 05/03/2021
