Donated Materials Policy

The San Diego County Library is no longer accepting physical donations of materials for the collection, with the exception of items produced by local authors or musicians.

The Library purchases materials at steep discounts that come with labels, barcodes and covers, ready for customer use. It is more expensive to accept a donation and prepare it for circulation than it is for the Library to purchase a title that comes prepared by our vendors. If you would like to support the Library’s collection, we encourage you to donate funds for the purchase of physical and digital materials for our communities.

If you are looking for an organization to donate your books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, or magazines to, consider contacting one of the organizations below:

• Your Branch Friends of the Library
  Many branch Friends of the Library groups accept book donations for their book sales. Please check their websites or phone ahead to ensure that your donation can be accepted at this time. Items donated to the Friends of the Library are sold to support San Diego County Library branch collections and events.
• Salvation Army (books, DVDs, CDs)
  1-800-728-7825
• Goodwill (books, DVDs, CDs)
  1-800-GOODWILL
• Amvets (books, DVDs, CDs)
  877-990-8387
• Vietnam Veterans of America (books, DVDs, CDs)
  877-775-8387
• Father Joe’s Villages (books, DVDs, CDs – limit 5 boxes):
  1-800-HOMELESS
• Kids Need to Read (like new kids' books)
  480-256-0115
• Bridge to Asia (books)
  510-665-3998
• You can also recycle books and magazines in your recycle bins, particularly if they are damaged or outdated.