Donating Materials and Book Sales
The Friends hold two mammoth book sales annually in spring and fall in the parking garage of the Central Library. Used materials are also sold daily at all library locations.
I’d love to help, can I volunteer?
Absolutely! Email arlington.booksale@yahoo.com for more information.
Can I donate my used books, music or movies to the library?
Usually only books published in the current year are added to the collection. The Friends of the Arlington Public Library sort and sell most other donations, and use the proceeds to support library services.
Where do I bring donations?
- Small donations are accepted at all Library locations during open hours.
- Large donations can be deposited at the Central Library Friend’s Store, on the main floor across from the Checkout Desk.
- Very large donations can be brought to the loading dock on the 10th Street side of the Central Library any weekday before 1:00 pm. Ring the doorbell, and a volunteer or a staff member will help you unload and issue a receipt. Please do not leave books outside or near the parking garage elevator.
What kinds of donations do you accept?
Please do not donate:
- Books that are moldy, mildewed, food-stained, heavily highlighted, or falling apart. Materials previously stored in basements or garages need special checking. If they smell, they can’t sell.
- Most magazines more than a year old (or three months old for weekly magazines). Exceptions: We do accept back copies of Architectural Digest, Bon Appetite, Gourmet or other cooking magazines, and all magazines published before 1960.
- Academic, scientific, medical, or similar professional journals. A local university library is most likely to be interested.
- Travel books by AAA, Fodor, Frommer, etc older than five years
- Medical, legal and computer books older than ten years
- Tax books
- School textbooks that are no longer used
- Consumers’ guides older than 3 years
- Discarded library books
- Encyclopedias published after 1960
- Audiocassettes (books on tape or music)
- Computer software (games) on 5 ¼ or 3 ½ inch disks
Items in highest demand:
- Hardback books published within the last five years
- Children’s books
- DVDs and audiobooks on CD
- Music CDs
- Foreign language books
- Classic literature
- Older books (hardback or softbound) in fields such as art, architecture, history, militaria, cookbooks, Afro-Americana, philosophy, science, math, crime, local interest, education, sports, biography, nature or performing arts
- Other media such as phonograph (LP) records, computer games and videotapes (VHS)
- The Virginia Room, the community archives at the Central Library, is particularly interested in original materials related to Arlington’s history, such as documents, maps, papers, histories, etc. If you have historical materials to donate, please call 703-228-5966 to speak to Virginia Room staff.
Are donations tax deductible?
Personal property donated to the Friends of the Arlington Library may be deducted as charitable donations in kind. Donors may request a receipt from any desk that is staffed or from volunteers at the Loading Dock on the 10th Street side of the Central Library. The Library and its volunteers do not estimate the value of donations, but a tax professional or the IRS itself can advise.