Donate Books and Media

Donation Criteria

• BOOKS: we accept new books, used books in good condition, and vintage books (as long as they are not dirty, smelly or water-damaged)
• MEDIA: we accept CDs, DVDs, puzzles and games (complete or in playable condition)
• NOT ACCEPTED: cassette tapes, VHS tapes, vinyl records, magazines or sheet music.

Yellow Bin Dropoffs

Friends of the Whitefish Bay Public Library are now accepting donations of gently used books and media. There are several large yellow bins in the library lobby for donations. Donations can be placed in the yellow bins any time the Library is open.

Need Help?

If carting heavy books around is a physical challenge for you, we can arrange for a volunteer to pick-up your donation or meet you at the Library to help you unload your car. Simply contact us at donatebooks@friendswfblibrary.org

Large-Volume Donations

If you have a large volume of books and/or media to donate, please contact us at donatebooks@friendswfblibrary.org about scheduling a local pick-up. Our volunteers will evaluate, box up, and take your donations back to the Library.

Tax Receipts

Donated items are considered “in-kind” donations and are tax-deductible. If you need a receipt for your donation, please ask for one at the Library front desk. Please note, donors (not Friends) are responsible for determining the value of the items they donate.

The Life Cyle of a Donated Book

Have you ever wondered what happens to the books in the yellow donation bins in the lobby? Well, once they make it downstairs to the Friends workroom, they go through a fairly complicated process. Our hope is that they will all find new homes eventually and we have many ways of distributing them even if they do not sell at our sales. I hope this following graphic makes the process a bit clearer.

Graphic from the 2024 Fall/Winter Newsletter article