If you would like to donate books, perhaps because a librarian at one of the New York Public Library branches referred you, we can work with you on this. We are most interested in art and photography books, philosophy, mathematics, religion, occult, esoterica, new age, counter-culture, left/radical, critical theory, music, literary fiction, Greek and Latin–actually any scholarly subject, review copies, underground comics/graphic novels, recent law books, technical books in such subjects as finance, theoretical and applied science, recent software. We cannot use genre books (i.e. best-sellers), outdated textbooks, children or young adult books, pop psychology/business books (unless they are new releases), most self-help books, coffee table books (unless they are art book monographs), test prep books. We can use CDs–jazz, blues and world music and DVDs–movies that were not released in the mainstream theaters (independent films).
It is best to SEND PHOTOS OF THE BOOKS (SPINES) TO OUR EMAIL: eastvillagebooksny@aol.com Take pictures of the spines close enough for us to read the titles–see examples below. If there are too many books you can send us a representative selection of photos (15 or so). In the alternative you can send us a list of titles. In any case send us an approximate count of the books. When we receive your email we will respond shortly. Our phone number is (212) 477-8647 if you would like to call.
Our donation program is multifaceted. From the sale of donated books we support all legitimate non-profits that ask us for money. We also have a homeless donation program where the books that we cannot sell are directed to the people selling on the street. There are some books that we would not accept because there would be no outlet for them–we might be able to direct you in an appropriate direction for those.
East Village Books was able to make it through Covid without accepting government money. Part of the reason was that the books people donated to us allowed us flexibility; the other part was self-pride. That’s what one of the customers said about their donations, as well. Thank you.