Friends of the Chatham Community Library

The Library is currently not accepting donations of any sort due to the COVID pandemic!

Thank you for your understanding!

The Friends of the Library welcomes donations of gently used books and audio/video materials for our book sales. Our sales, held in the Spring and Fall, raise more than $30,000 each year for the benefit of the library. Our volunteers sort and categorize approximately 18,000 items for each sale.

We sincerely appreciate the ongoing support of the library that your donations and your purchases at our sales represent. Your donations provide reasonably-priced books to people in our community and business opportunities for some of our customers. Most donated items are included in our sales; however, at the discretion of the library staff, some donations may be added to the library collection.

To assure the ongoing success and quality of our sales, and safety in the library, we request that donors follow the guidelines below:

Items we ACCEPT

Hardcover and soft cover fiction and non-fiction books
Large print books
Foreign language books and audio-visual materials
CDs, DVDs and audio books on CD

Items we DO NOT ACCEPT

Magazines, except very old collectibles
Encyclopedia sets
Textbooks
Reader’s Digest Books
Music or books on audio cassettes
VHS videos
Puzzles and games
Artwork
Books more than five years old in these categories—computer, health, education and travel

Please make sure books and other items are CLEAN and IN GOOD CONDITION

Volunteers must discard or recycle any books that are in poor condition, dirty, dusty, mildewed or water damaged. Please save us the time and effort and protect the library environment by carefully inspecting your books before you donate them.
For books that do not meet our standards, please note that the Chatham County Recycling Centers accept books at the "Sharing Shacks" or for paper recycling.

How to make donations

Donations can be delivered to the Chatham Community Library circulation desk anytime the library is open. Please do not count on the availability of library staff to help you bring in your donations. On Tuesday mornings from 9 am to 11 am, volunteers are usually available to help.
Please respect our library staff and do not leave donations outside the library when it is closed.
For large donations or special collections, please contact us at contact@friendsccl.org to arrange for a pick up or to have a volunteer meet you at the library to accept the donation and help you unload.
Due to space limitations, we may need to limit donations a few weeks before each sale. Please call during these times to see if we can accept donations.

Are non-monetary donations tax-deductible?

The Friends of the Chatham Community Library is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution to the extent allowed by law. A receipt indicating the quantity of items donated will be provided upon request. Please note that all donations are final and become the property of the Friends of the Library when they are accepted. Donors are responsible for determining the value of their donations prior to delivery.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT & COOPERATION!