Before you plan to bring us your books, please make sure that we will be able to take them. See books we want. We don’t want to have to do recycling for you!
K-12 Schools: We take book deliveries from schools and appreciate appointments for deliveries of more than 8 or 10 boxes. School personnel with books to bring us, please schedule a time with Marilyn, at marilyn.nemzer@bookexchangemarin.org. If it’s at the last minute (i.e. if you want to deliver right away) phone her at 415-308-0939 – this number is for use of school staff only, please!
In our new, much smaller warehouse we have to be really efficient with space. It’s very difficult for our volunteers if boxes don’t stack well. So we’ve developed some guidelines, but please don’t let these scare you away! If you have any questions about the way your books are packed, please feel free to get in touch with Marilyn (contact info in above paragraph). New sets of teacher materials prepackaged in their own solid containers do not need to be repacked; the containers they come in are just fine. It’s important to give this section of our website, including the boxing and delivery guidelines, to your delivery person.
Everyone Else: You can bring us books during our regular open hours, Thursdays and Saturdays between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Please see essential information about which books we accept. Note that we cannot take most fiction or nonfiction unless it was written expressly for young people. The only exception to this is classical literature. If you have more than 8 or 10 boxes, please e-mail Marilyn to schedule a time.
Many of our books are used again right here in our local community – in homes, schools, community centers and other nonprofit organizations. The majority of our books will travel across the seas to help improve the literacy of those less fortunate than we are. We may use especially valuable books for fund-raising purposes (so we can help pay our rent). If you have questions about books you’d like to donate, please e-mail Marilyn or come visit and talk to her during our open hours.
TO BOX YOUR BOOKS:
- COMPACT. It’s easier for us if you don’t use a large box for only a few books. If you only have a few books, paper bags are fine instead of boxes. Please, no plastic bags.
- STURDY. Please make sure boxes are strong and not falling apart.
- REASONABLE SIZE. Please try to use boxes of reasonable size. Oversized boxes can be too heavy to move around. The best boxes are the ones in which copy paper is usually packed, but this is not a requirement. We just want to make sure our volunteers, often teenagers, can handle them OK.
- FLAT TOPS. We appreciate so much if boxes are packed with flat tops (preferably lidded) so they can be stacked, in our new, smaller space. This makes it easier and safer to deal with our large volume of donated books.
TO DELIVER YOUR BOOKS:
Check in at our front door and let us know what you have to deliver. If you have only a few boxes, you can just carry them in or ask to borrow our hand truck. For larger loads, we might ask you to use the delivery entrance at the back of our building and a volunteer will explain the next steps.
With larger loads, we’ll indicate a pallet on which you will stack your books. Please try to stack the boxes in a way that will be secure, efficient and space-saving. It takes time to do it right, so it’s important for anyone making a sizable delivery to allow time to stack the boxes with care. Our volunteers may or may not be able to lift boxes to help you, so bring help if you feel you might need it.
Mailing books to The Book Exchange: unfortunately, books can not be mailed to our Del Ganado address. In special cases, if we can make an arrangement we will, but first e-mail marilyn.nemzer@bookexchangemarin.org.
