donate books toronto

9 places to donate your old books in Toronto

Places to donate old books in Toronto will accept your old editions, even if they're a little dog-eared. As long as the spine's intact and the font's not illegible, you can give away your hardcover and paperback books to most charities and businesses, which will ensure your old reads reach the next pair of inquiring hands. 

Here are places to donate old books in Toronto. 

Toronto Public Library Foundation

Books donated to the TPL Foundation are sold from library branches and Book Ends stores to raise money for TPL's programs and services. Keep in mind they only accept books in good condition: you can drop them off at the Toronto Reference Library. 

Textbooks for Change

We all know textbooks are far from cheap, so if you want to help a struggling student out, donate your post-secondary education reads at one of their eight dropboxes around downtown. They resell some at cheaper prices, and donate half to partnering libraries in East Africa.

The Children's Book Bank

This non-profit provides free books and literacy support to kids living in low-income areas in Toronto. They accept new and gently-used children's books, and are especially on the hunt for books on the ABCs and numbers. You can drop off your books at their store in Regent Park. 

Habitat for Humanity

Donate your old volumes to this non-profit to sell for cheap at their ReStore locations across the GTA. They'll offer your books for up to 70 per cent less than the retail value, and all funds go toward building homes for families in need.

Salvation Army

There's plenty of locations of this popular non-profit around the GTA where you can drop off your gently used books. Funds made through sales at their second-hand stores go toward programs that help assist vulnerable Canadians. 

Trinity College Book Sale

U of T's Trinity College accepts all assortment of books, from biographies and children's books to classic lit and musical stores. Collecting from January to August, they have a giant sale near the end of the year, with all proceeds going to John W. Graham Library projects.

Pegasus Community Project

This charity provides services to adults with developmental disabilities. You can drop off your books at their office on Kingston Road; those are then sold at the Pegasus Thrift Store, with proceeds going back to the organization.

Value Village

Contribute to this for-profit organization's library of books for sale and donate your reads at any of their locations near you. They'll sell your books at discounted prices and use that money to buy items off other charitable organizations.

Used book stores

Though the number of these stores are dwindling, there's still a fair number of shops in Toronto dabbling in old books. Call ahead to see what kind of literature they're looking for.

Lead photo by

Trinity College 


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