Donate Books
Support Our Mission & Donate
Book'em donates 100,000+ books to underserved children in the Nashville area, serving ages 0-18. These books foster a sense of ownership, dignity, and joy in the children who receive them as gifts. A book that would not be given as a gift may be a better fit for a used book store or secondhand store. Below is a general outline of books we accept for those who want to support our mission.
What To Donate
Books We Accept
- books for ages 0-18
- books in excellent condition (new, like-new, very gently used)
- board books, picture books, chapter books (etc. for books in the age range 0-18)
Books We Do Not Accept
- Encyclopedia sets
- Textbooks
- Outdated reference materials
- Books on cassette
- Magazines, catalogs, & manuals
- Videotapes & DVDs
- Library books
- Even in relatively good condition, books with library binding, card pockets, or discard stamps do not create the sense of ownership that we work to provide Additionally, caregivers may mistake these as books that need to be returned to a library rather than gifts for their child.
- Any books in less than excellent condition
- This includes excessively worn, torn, wrinkled, bent, stained, yellowed, water or smoke damaged, underlined, highlighted, written in, or otherwise damaged books, as well as those with missing pages or pieces. We cannot use activity books that have been completed in any capacity or are missing stickers or other components.
Support Our Non-Book Needs
To support the Book'em mission, click here to learn other types of donations we accept.
How To Donate Books
Donate in Person
Schedule a drop-off time to donate books in person.
Donate Online
Ship a donation to Book'em at 161 Rains Ave. Nashville, TN 37203. Shop for books at local bookstores Parnassus Books, Fairytales Bookstore, or The Bookshop. We welcome books of all types and topics, but feel free to check out our Amazon Wish List for some of our favorites! You may note your name and/or organization when purchasing online unless you prefer your gift remain anonymous.
Host a Book-Drive
Many of the books Book'em receives are collected through book drives. From a book collection box set out at a lemonade stand, to a classroom project challenging classmates to bring in books from home, to a multi-office corporate competition, book drives come in all shapes and sizes. Click here to learn more.
Book Drive Info & Guidelines
Contribute to Book'em's mission by hosting a book drive. One of Book'em's primary initiatives, Books for Nashville's Kids, aims to empower kids in the Nashville area through book ownership. Books donated via donor book drives are distributed to underserved and under-resourced children throughout Davidson County.
Drives can be done with your office, school, place of worship, team, civic group, club, family, neighborhood, or anywhere else you may be involved. The general guidelines we typically give can be found below.
Virtual Book Drives
If there's anyone who wants to contribute but doesn't have any books on hand to donate, they can purchase books from Book'em's Amazon wish list. We have found this to be an easy way folks can help our organization out and is also great because the books are delivered straight to our office. However, if you want to track the number of books purchased and sent to us by your members, it will be easier to track if we create a link to a private Amazon Registry utilized only by your members. If you'd like to do that, let us know.
Here is a flyer from a book drive that another company conducted. They gave us permission to provide it as an example and it includes a QR code to our Amazon Charity List. (Amazon Charity lists no longer exist so that code may not take you anywhere, but you could make your QR code direct to the private registry list we create for you if you choose to go that route). Again, your drive can be as simple or creative as you would like. It is not necessary to have a flyer like this, but if it is helpful, that is great!
Donation Date & Instructions
Unfortunately, we do not have the bandwidth to pick up books so you or someone within your company will need to coordinate a drop-off at our office. Please schedule a donation appointment at https://bit.ly/BookDonationCalendar. Over the last several years, we have outgrown our space and we have turned to this online calendar to help us keep the flow of books in and out of the organization manageable.
Tips for a Great Book Drive
- Make it meaningful
- Book'em partners with 160 schools, nonprofits, day care centers, religious institutions, and other organizations in Davidson County to share books with kids who might otherwise have none. A study done by the Handbook of Early Literacy Research found that "in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio of books to children is one book for every 300 children, far below the ratio of 13 books per child in middle- and upper-income neighborhoods." If kids are participating in the drive, explain the importance of sharing with those who have less - there are kids just like them in our community with no books of their own.
- Get creative
- Decorate collection boxes or create a snappy poster to spread the word - you may see it featured on our social media platforms! We often reuse boxes when we distribute books, so your designs will spread joy over and over.
- Set a time frame
- Pick a single day or week, and encourage everyone to collect books at that time to create a sense of excitement and unity. Limiting it two weeks or less can help keep momentum going throughout the whole drive.
- Turn it into a challenge
- Stir up a little friendly competition in your office or Nextdoor group to see who can collect the most books, or set a goal amount of books and inspire your child's grade, classroom, or group of friends to reach it collectively.
- Go virtual
- The future is now, and you can hold a book drive from home by encouraging your group to shop for and donate books completely online (see our 'Donate Books Online' section above for some ideas).
- Use the power of social media
Book Drive Resources
- Please feel free to utilize the resources in the links below:Book Drop Box Sign
Support Our Non-Book Needs
Beyond books, we also need supplies to help us process, clean, pack, and send these books out into the world! Please see our Amazon Supply List if you would like to support Book'em in this way.
We can always use cardboard boxes for book packing. Document storage boxes, copy paper cases, beer/wine cases, or any small to medium-sized boxes around that size are always appreciated! Please email [email protected] if you have boxes to donate.
Learn More
For questions about book donations see our FAQ page, email us at [email protected], or call us at (615)-255-1820.
Book’em is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Monetary value of in-kind donations for tax purposes to be determined by donor.