friends - donate your books & media

We welcome your clean and gently used adult and children's books, audio-visual materials including audiobooks on cassette or CD, music CDs, records, movies and TV series DVDs, and VHS feature films.

We love to receive:

• Fiction, hardcover or paperback, Graphic Novels, Manga

• Non-Fiction, Biography, History, Gardening, Coffee Table, Pets, Science, Cook Books, Self-Help, recent Travel, Sports, Business, Psychology, Humor, Art, Music, Dance, Ecology and Nature, Crafts, Hobbies, Religion, recent Computer Books

• Young Adult/Teen Fiction, Children's Fiction and Non-Fiction, Picture books, Chapter books, Series, Cartoon Collections, Parenting, complete Games and Puzzles

• Chicago Area books, Civil War, Military

• Complete Encyclopedia sets, Atlases and Dictionaries and other recent reference items and collections

• Large type books

Drop off directions

Donations can be brought to the library and placed in the Friends' cart by the public computers in the foyer seating area. Tax receipts can be requested from the Circulation Services desk. Larger donations may be brought to the library's receiving area (in the back of the library). Ring the bell by the employee entrance, and staff will assist in unloading your car. Due to storage limitations, it is difficult for us to receive donations during the week before our book sales.

If you would like to e-mail the Friends, our e-mail is Friends@balibrary.org. The e-mail is checked at least weekly, so please be patient. Phone messages can be left at 847-382-1300 x 226.

We cannot use:

Reader's Digest Condensed Books, soiled/moldy/musty items, encyclopedia sets older than 10 years, or magazines (including National Geographic).