Donate Books, DVDs & CDs

The Shelby County Public Library gratefully accepts gifts and donations with the following conditions:

The library accepts gifts of:

  • Books

  • DVD/Blue-ray movies

  • Compact Disc Sound Recordings

We cannot accept as donations the following:

  • VHS tapes

  • Items that have been stored in damp conditions or basements

  • Items that have a strong odor to them

  • Reader’s Digest condensed books

  • Encyclopedias, travel guides, technical books or textbooks greater than 5 years-old

  • Newspapers

  • Magazines greater than 3 years old

  • Illegal copies of materials

Donation Weeks

Donations of items will only be accepted on the last full calendar week of each quarter.

Donation weeks in 2024 are:

March: Monday, March 25 through Friday, March 29

June: Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28

September: Monday, Sept. 23 through Friday, Sept. 2

December: Monday, Dec. 30 through Friday, Jan. 3

  • The library reserves the right to evaluate and dispose of them in accordance with the same criteria applied to purchased materials.

  • Generally, items will be selected for the Library’s collections if they are in good condition and likely to be in demand or fill in gaps in the collection. Materials may be disposed of without notifying the donor if later examination indicates that the library cannot use them.

  • The Library retains the right to determine where donated items with be utilized.

  • Donated materials that are not added to the collection are disposed of at the discretion of the Library. The majority of those materials are given to the Friends of the Library for their book sales, or sent to a third-party reseller. Materials that are determined to be of an unusable condition are recycled.

  • Any materials donated to the library legally and physically become the permanent property of the Library. Records of family and local history also become the permanent property of the Library. Files may be digitized and included in an online database.

  • The Library will not appraise donated books for tax purposes. The Library will provide (upon request) a receipt for tax purposes of the donor with a space for the donor’s estimated value of the materials.