How to Get Rid of Old Books: Donate, Sell, Recycle or Haul

How to get rid of old books comes down to sorting them by type: donate the clean ones, sell the few that are worth something, recycle the loose paper, and haul off what's left. You've got four main options, and most piles need a little of each.

Books and paper pile up quietly in storage. They get moved from house to house, and then one day the closet door won't shut.

Here's what actually works around the Treasure Valley, and when junk removal makes more sense than doing it all yourself.

How to get rid of old books around Boise

Start with a simple sorting toolkit: a few small boxes, tape, a marker, and a clear spot on the floor. Create four piles for donate, sell, recycle, and toss. Sorting is where most of the duration goes, so give it a real block of time.

The type of book decides most of where it goes. Paperback fiction, kids' books, textbooks, encyclopedias, and loose paperwork are each a different type with a different best home.

Storage duration matters too. A box that spent a short duration in a dry closet is usually fine. The longer the duration in garage or basement storage, the more likely the pages picked up moisture and mildew.

Books weigh way more than you'd guess

A banker's box packed with hardcovers is heavier than most people expect.

Weight matters for two reasons. If you're hauling it yourself, landfill fees are usually based on weight, so check the local landfill's current rates before you load up.

The other reason is donation. Most drop-off spots want a box one volunteer can pick up without calling for help.

Tip: Pack books in liquor boxes from the grocery store instead of moving boxes. They're small, they're built for weight, and stores will often give them away.

Old paperwork is its own problem. Tax returns, bank statements, insurance files from the nineties. That stuff shouldn't sit in storage forever or ride to the dump in an open box, and I'll get to why.

Where can you donate or sell old books near Boise?

Start with donation, then pull out the few that might sell.

Donating books that still have life in them

Donating books is the easiest win if they're clean. Idaho Youth Ranch has local drop-off locations, so check whether they're taking books right now. Libraries often have a Friends group that sells donated books, and in Boise that's the Friends of the Boise Public Library, so ask whether they're taking donations and how many. Call before you show up with a truckload.

Neighborhood book-share boxes around the North End and in Meridian are great for a handful of good paperbacks. They're not a fix for a closet full of boxes, so don't leave a milk crate sitting next to one.

Churches, schools, senior centers and local reading programs sometimes take a book donation too. Each one wants a different type of book, so ask what they need first.

Here's what drop-off spots usually say yes to when you donate books:

• Fiction and popular nonfiction in clean, readable shape
• Kids' books and picture books
• Cookbooks, hobby books, field guides
• Anything that doesn't smell like a basement

What gets turned away is pretty predictable. Encyclopedia sets from decades back. College textbooks more than an edition or two old. Reader's Digest condensed volumes.

Water damage is the other dealbreaker. Books that sat in crawlspace storage and picked up that damp smell are usually finished, and airing them out rarely brings them back.

Selling books for a little extra cash

Most used books aren't worth much, but a few are. Selling books makes sense for a certain type: recent textbooks, signed copies, first editions, and series people collect.

If you'd rather sell books in person, many local used bookstores will look through a box and offer store credit or extra cash for what they can resell.

To sell used books online, try one of the buyback services that quote by barcode, or list them on a marketplace site. The type of book and its condition move the offer more than its age does.

Listing, packing and shipping one at a time takes a while, so it's only worth it for the handful that bring a real offer.

Hosting a yard sale

A yard sale moves a lot of cheap paperbacks at once. Sort them into boxes by type, price them low, and keep the duration to a single morning. Whatever doesn't sell goes straight to donation instead of back into storage.

What to recycle instead

Recycling handles the rest. Local recycling centers take paper and cardboard, and Boise's curbside recycling takes both too, so check the city's current list for what it says about books. In Meridian, Nampa or Caldwell, check your local city's rules, since each city sets its own recycling program.

One catch: many programs don't want hardcover bindings in the bin with the covers still on, and nobody wants to spend a Saturday tearing covers off a whole shelf. Check whether your program takes paperbacks before you toss them in.

What does household junk removal do with a book collection?

When we haul a book collection, it doesn't all go to the same place. Clean, current titles get set aside for donation, same as we do with furniture or old electronics. Loose paper and flattened cardboard go to recycling.

What's left is the moldy stuff and the busted bindings. That goes to the landfill, because there isn't an honest alternative for it.

Sensitive paperwork is the part people forget to mention. If there are boxes of old statements and records mixed in, tell us before we load. Better yet, pull those out first and take them to shredding services. It's a basic safety step, since those pages carry account numbers.

So what does it cost? There's no flat number for books. Pricing is by volume, based on how much truck space the pile takes, and a few things shape the job:

• Volume: how much of the truck the pile fills.
• Weight: books are heavy for their size, so a small pile can be a lot of lifting.
• Access: boxes by the garage door load faster than boxes in basement storage at the bottom of a narrow stair, which stretches the duration.
• Type of material: paper, hardcovers and shelving don't all go to the same place.

Those same things set the duration of the job. Stacking boxes near the garage or front door before we get there, instead of leaving them in storage, cuts the duration.

When household junk removal beats three trips to the donation bin

Sort it yourself if you've got the time and the books are decent.

Call someone when the math stops working. Dozens of boxes. A basement that flooded. A storage unit that has to be emptied. An estate where nobody has the bandwidth to sort titles one at a time.

Same goes when the books are only one layer of a bigger mess, which is usually how a basement cleanout looks. At that point you're not dealing with books. You're dealing with a room.

One honest note, and yes, we'd love the job. If everything in that pile is genuinely donatable, you'll get more out of driving it to a donation drop-off like Idaho Youth Ranch than out of paying for hauling services.

The bottom line

Books are heavier, harder to donate, and more annoying to recycle than most people expect. Donate what's clean and current, sell the few worth money, shred any type of paper with account numbers on it, and get help with whatever's left if the pile has outgrown your weekend.

Staring at a closet that won't close? Give us a call at (208) 593-2877 and tell us what you've got. We'll set up a free estimate, and if we think you're better off making a donation run instead, we'll say so.

Frequently asked questions

Are old books worth any money?

Most aren't, but a few are. First editions, signed copies, recent textbooks and some collectible series can bring a real offer, and the type and condition matter more than age.

How do you get rid of the old book smell?

A light musty smell from dry storage can fade if the books sit open in a dry, airy spot. If it hasn't faded after a short duration of airing out, it's likely mildew, and those books should go before it spreads to the rest of your storage.

How do you get rid of an old bookshelf?

Empty it, then grab a screwdriver from your toolkit and take it apart if it's flat-pack. A solid shelf can be donated or reused for garage storage, and a broken one can go out with the haul, since a junk removal service can take it along with the books.

What about old magazines and paperwork?

Related reading: Junk Removal in Boise: Old Lawn Mowers, Grills and Yard Tools and Junk Removal Estimate in Boise: What the Walkthrough Covers.

Magazines are the easiest type to get rid of: many local curbside recycling programs take them, so check your city's list. Paperwork with account numbers or personal details should be shredded first.