FOPAL’S Popular Monthly Sales Depend on Your Generous Donations!
FOPAL is open for drop-off donations of up to 6 boxes or bags during our regular drop-off hours. No appointment is needed, unless you have a larger donation (7 or more boxes)!
DROP-OFF Donation hours: MONday-SATurday, 3-5pm
NO DONATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED: JULY 6-13 (the week before the sale)
LOCATION:
Main Room, Cubberley Community Center
4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA
Please Bring Us Your Books, Comics, Music, DVDs, Games, Puzzles, and Software
At our monthly book sales, Friends of the Palo Alto Library finds new readers for/users of your donated items and contributes the net proceeds to purchase new materials, technology, and furniture for Palo Alto libraries.
FOPAL has contributed millions of dollars to the Palo Alto City Libraries.
FOPAL gladly accepts:
- Fiction and non-fiction books
- Comic books and graphic novels
- Textbooks and computer books
- Commercially recorded items:
- Audiobooks on CDs or cassettes
- Movies on DVD or Blu-ray
- Music CDs
- Records (45s, 78s, LPs)
- Software and manuals
- Printed Ephemera:
- Black and white photos
- All handwritten items (journals, letters, diaries, envelopes with stamps, postcards, historical and unusual materials)
- Maps (folded or rolled), except AAA maps of the United States
- Puzzles, games, and toys
- Sheet music and songbooks
Items we are temporarily not accepting
- Art or posters (framed or unframed, or frames)
- Videotapes (VHS/Betamax)
- Electronics
- Travel brochures
- Greeting and blank cards
- Plushies/Stuffed Animals
Items we do not accept
- Soiled, moldy, water-damaged, or partial books
(General Guideline: if you would not give it to a friend, please don’t give it to the Friends!) - Magazines or newspapers
- Reader’s Digest condensed books
- Encyclopedias
- Blank photo albums
- Small collectibles (figurines, bookends, souvenirs, etc.)
- Large items, such as furniture, lamps, suitcases, etc.
- Clothing or linens
- Sports equipment
- Home copied/burned or non-commercially recorded audiovisual materials
- American Automobile Association (AAA) maps of the United States
- Legal statutes or codes
Large Donation:
If you have a large donation (7 or more boxes or bags), please email volunteerdir@fopal.org or call us at (650) 308-8469 to leave a message and make an appointment for you to deliver your donation.
Donation Pickup
We are able to pick up some larger donations. Since our pickup team is made up of volunteers driving their own trucks, minivans, and cars, their availability is limited.
Accepted Locations:
We pick up from Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Stanford, Atherton, Woodside, and Mountain View, CA.
Requirements:
- At least 7 boxes (for pickup).
- Boxes must be of manageable size and weight (such as 10″ x 12″ x 15″ banker/file boxes or copier paper boxes) – We have flattened empty banker/file boxes available for you, just ask!
- Nearby place to park our vehicles for loading.
- Clear path that doesn’t involve a lot of stairs or other obstructions.
Lead Time:
We need at least a week to schedule a pickup.
NOTE: No pickups will be scheduled in the week before our monthly sale or on the days of our monthly sale (second Saturday of the month and the following Sunday).
Use our Donation Pickup Request Form to leave a message for our pickup team, if you can meet all the requirements above. One of our volunteers will get back to you as soon as possible to schedule a pickup.
Tax Deductions:
Your donations are tax-deductible. Be sure to ask one of the volunteers for a receipt.
Make a Cash Donation
Make a one-time or recurring monetary donation and help support Palo Alto’s outstanding library system!