Click here to purchase books from our wish lists.
Donate Books
Thank you for your interest in donating books to Madison Reading Project. Our mission is to provide books to children, especially to those who may not have them in their home or to those without easy access to books. By donating books to Madison Reading Project, you are making a difference in the life of a local child. In order to give away quality books, we developed donation guidelines, listed below.
Interested in hosting a book drive on our behalf?
-
Give us a heads up about your book drive by completing our Book Drive Notification form.
-
Download our book drive toolkit.
You can drop off your book donations anytime during our office hours.
If you...
-
have any questions about these guidelines
-
need to check-in before you drop off your book donations
-
or if you'd like to schedule a book donation pickup
please contact our programming team at programming@madisonreadingproject.com.
Things We Love
-
Materials printed in Spanish, Hmong, or bilingual text
-
Books featuring diverse characters
-
Titles from our “Book Wishes”

Book Donation Guidelines
We gratefully accept:
-
Books for ages birth to teens
-
New or gently used books
-
Please, no damaged books, including:
-
Broken bindings
-
Missing or ripped pages
-
Soiled, musty, moldy, or water damage
-
Excessive writing or highlighting on pages
-
-
-
Timely and relevant content
-
Topics and illustrations that are outdated or irrelevant
do not generate interest or excitement-
For nonfiction: preferably books published within
the last five (5) years, reflecting current technology and politics
-
-
-
Appropriate themes and topics
-
Books with harmful stereotypes in text or illustrations
will not be shared with children -
We cannot accept books with holiday or religious themes
-
We cannot accept the following items:
-
Dictionaries or encyclopedias
-
Activity or coloring books
-
Teaching or homeschool materials
-
Books with religious or holiday themes
-
Toy items
-
Magnet / sticker books
-
“Play Sound” books
-
Puzzle Kits
-
Alternate Donation Options
If you have items that you are interested in donating that do not meet our specific donation guidelines (including books for adults), we encourage you to check out these other options for donations.
-
Madison Public Library
-
201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, WI 53703
- http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/support/book-donations
-
-
Literacy Network
-
701 Dane St., Madison, WI 53713
-
-
Goodwill
-
Madison East Towne
-
2127 E Springs Dr., Madison, WI 53704
-
-
Madison Verona Road
-
4530 Verona Rd., Madison, WI 53711
-
-
Madison Northside
-
2901 N. Sherman Ave., Madison, WI 53704
-
-
South Central Wisconsin Home Office
-
1302 Mendota St., Madison, WI 53714
-
-
Monona
-
2501 Royal Ave., Monona, WI 53713
-
-
Recycling
-
City of Madison Recycling
Updated: June 2019