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Not near you but I saw today that Hunter Elementary near downtown Raleigh is looking for kid-friendly books since they do a book giveaway for students at the end of the year
Once when the library wasn't accepting donations for a while - too many donated - I gave them to Disabled American Veterans. They were picked up at the curb.
You probably already got your answer by now, but here's my two cents (back from a trip to donate books):
ANY thrift shop will take them. Not all Thrift shops are created equally. Personally, I live in Cary and I like the Dorcas Thrift shop near High House and Chatham and/or the Guardian Angel near Lara Duncan and Lake Pine (Technically Apex), as they both serve good causes.
Personally, I don't donate to GoodWill. Too many stories about their executive salaries and their profit-driven practices. I have no issues with profits, but if I'm donating, I like to know my donations stay local, serve a good cause, and that the majority of them goes to the cause, not the adminstration.
Donations at thrift shops are easy too, usually a drive-through where you don't have to get out of the car if you don't want to.
As a book nut & former bookstore manager, I am always buying secondhand books and also finding some to give away.
First, thanks for not giving them to Goodwill
Yes, the libraries do sell them, but as mentioned, just online--the fun "Friends of the Library" sales where you could fill up a bag on the last day for a steal are gone
But some of the more ethical thrift shops take them. I like ReTails or Paws for Cause, because they benefit Animal charities--but P for C was not taking any donations the last time I went by there (probably backed up w stuff and no volunteers to sort it?) The one on S Saunders St has a great book section (a long way from Brier Creek, I realize).
North Raleigh Ministries has two shops, one at Harvest Plaza at the corner of Strickland Rd & Six Forks, and one at Stony Brook. I usually avoid anything that says "ministries" unless I can be sure they aren't a really conservative church organization, but NRM seems to really be devoted to actual good works (somebody please correct me if I am wrong in this!) and not any actual churches. Their Harvest Plaza shop is one of the largest thrift shops I know of, and always has a lo0t of books.
The other option that I've been using recently, to buy but also sometimes donate, is BetterWorldBooks. The used books they sell are really cheap, with free shipping, and most importantly, they donate (books & $$) to literacy causes.
They have bins all over the place, the green bins in shopping center parking lots (NOT the Blue bins!). I'm not sure if they have a bin at Brier Creek, but they do at several other North Raleigh locations, such as Leesville Rd where the Harris-Teeter is. Here is where you can look up where their bins are. I have found this the easiest way to donate books, especially when I don't have a big batch of stuff for a thrift shop. Note that sometimes the bins are full and people leave their books on the ground next to them, which are then ruined by rain There is a number on the bin you can call or text if the bin needs emptying (though I often find that if you just reach in and push them towards the back, there's room in there)
Finally, of course there are used bookstores like Nice Price or Reader's Corner, though they are always picky about what they take, even for free (I find that nice Price gives better $ of the two and are less picky)
And, you can always join one of the Facebook "Buy Nothing" groups, which are specific to specific areas of town, and list them there.
Thanks everyone. When we dropped off our other stuff, we asked. Durham Rescue Mission was happy to take them.
Goodwill gets nothing from me. I worked for them in Phoenix in the late 1990/s. Beyond the salary issues with the Goodwill of Central NC, there are plenty of reasons that Goodwill is scum.
What about CD's? Does anyone know of a place to unload CDs? Happy to donate, happier to sell, just want an easy way to get rid of. (over 200 titles, mostly classic rock, but a little bit of everything - bluegrass, classical, middle eastern, pop, punk, jazz, etc....)
My wife (and I) assume nobody will take them anymore, and they may have to go to the landfill? (boo)
What about CD's? Does anyone know of a place to unload CDs? Happy to donate, happier to sell, just want an easy way to get rid of. (over 200 titles, mostly classic rock, but a little bit of everything - bluegrass, classical, middle eastern, pop, punk, jazz, etc....)
My wife (and I) assume nobody will take them anymore, and they may have to go to the landfill? (boo)
Landfill? No way! I see CDs all the time at thrift stores. I think just about any thrift store would take them. Heck, I still buy them new! And having a teenager, I can tell you they've been getting popular with young people much like vinyl did. Cassettes have even been making a bit of a comeback! And film cameras!
All of that is true. My teen likes to shop at thrift stores for Cds.
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