Madison Public Library accepts gifts of new or gently-used books, magazines, DVDs, and music or books on compact disc. Decisions on whether and how donated items will be added to the Library’s collections are based on the same evaluative criteria that are applied to purchased materials.
With rare exceptions, we do not return items that are given to us. Items that are not added to the collections become part of the Friends of the Madison Public Library’s ongoing book sales or are sold at the Friends Book Store, which generate monies for the purchase of new materials.
There are some items we simply can't use. These include weekly news magazines and newspapers, Reader's Digest Condensed Books, National Geographic Magazines (we get more than we can use), VHS format videos, or encyclopedias and science or technical textbooks and magazines more than five years old.
Bring your donations to any Madison Public Library during open hours. If you have a large number of items to donate, call ahead to make arrangements to drop them off. The library does not assign a value to the donated items, but will sign a receipt / acknowledgement (in English PDF 22.4KB or Spanish PDF 11KB) indicating that we have received the materials. For more information about valuing old books, see Your Old Books, courtesy of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.
Questions about your donations? Contact our Library Collection Manager, 608-266-6310 or collection @ madisonpubliclibrary.org, or contact your local neighborhood library.