Hello Book Thing friends,

We hope everyone’s holidays were healthy and joyful, and we send out our best wishes to all for 2023! At our December book giveaway, patrons adopted 12,469 books and 685 non-books.   We also accepted donations of 9,324 books and 1,673 non-books.  Thank you to everyone who was able to attend.

Upcoming events

Although we won’t be open to the public this month, we will be accepting book donations on January 14th.  We will resume our series of openings on the second full weekend of each month starting in February, weather permitting.

  • Sat, Jan 14, 2023 – No public hours. Book donations accepted, details below.
  • Sun, Feb 12 – 9a-2p/5p – details TBD, limited book donations accepted
  • Sat, Mar 11 – details TBD, limited book donations accepted

As you can see, we will not be holding a book giveaway in January 2023.  This is a busy month for administrative matters. More to the point, we need more time to get books on the shelves!  Our volunteer “staffing” model makes it hard for us to restock in time for a January opening after our December giveaway. In our year-end update, we explained how it takes a whole month to get the shelves reasonably restocked for the next event. But even the most dedicated of our wonderful volunteers have other things to attend to during the holiday season – and they were all due for a well-deserved break!

Our monthly events generally alternate between Saturday and Sunday. However, to avoid a conflict with Easter, we may hold two Saturday giveaways followed by two Sunday giveaways for March through June. We will make a final decision and announce these dates later in the winter.

Finally, please keep in mind that this is the season when winter weather can sometimes force last-minute cancellations. Cancellations will be posted to our website and social media if necessary.

Book donations: January 14th, 9a-2p

Even though we won’t be open for browsing, we will open the book donation window on January 14. We welcome all book donations, especially books in high-demand categories like popular fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, classics, non-diet cookbooks, English dictionaries, and Bibles.

  • Book donation hours are 9am-2pm on 1/14. If there’s snow, ice, or extreme cold, please check our website for a possible cancellation before you leave home.
  • The donation limit is 6 boxes per family. Boxes must be small enough that one person can lift them when full.
  • We accept all types of books except encyclopedia sets.
  • We accept all types of popular and hobby magazines, but we can’t accept sets of academic/technical/professional journals.
  • We accept all types of mixed media except audio cassette tapes. Reminder: no home-made content, please.
  • Please don’t bring us books that are moldy, sticky, stinky, or missing pages/covers.
  • If you need a donation receipt, please mention that right up front. We’ll need to count your books separately. Thanks in advance for your patience!
  • Unfortunately, we can’t come pick up book donations, nor can we help you unload them from your vehicle.
  • If you have more than 6 boxes of books that you wish to donate, please bring 6 boxes on 1/14 and Contact us separately about the rest.
  • The building will be closed to the public on 1/14; the restroom will not be available.
  • We can only accept book donations as outlined above. If you leave books outside of donation hours, you may be cited by the City for illegal dumping.

Volunteer opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering with us in 2023, please fill out the Contact form.  We are excited to be moving forward on small-group trainings for new volunteers!

Happy New Year!