Donate Ann Nolan Clark Books — Free ABQ Pickup

I accept Ann Nolan Clark donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: her Newbery Medal winner Secret of the Andes, the Caldecott-honor In My Mother's House, the BIA Indian Life Readers, and titles like Little Navajo Bluebird, Blue Canyon Horse, Magic Money and Paco's Miracle. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the plain old hardcovers you might not recognize; the award firsts and signed copies are collectible, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.

Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project

Ann Nolan Clark was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and spent years teaching in the state's Pueblo and Indian Service schools — work that shaped a whole shelf of children's books written from inside Native and Hispano communities. She won the Newbery Medal and her best-known New Mexico book is a Caldecott Honor. A Clark shelf is part New Mexico classroom history, part genuinely collectible children's literature. When one gets cleared, most people just want it to reach kids who'll read it — and don't want to throw out a valuable award first. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole thing, free, and I check every book.

What I take: all of it

You don't have to know what's valuable

Here's the reason to call rather than dump: Clark's award firsts are collected. The 1952 first of Secret of the Andes (the year it won the Newbery) and the 1941 first of In My Mother's House in a clean dust jacket are sought by collectors of children's literature and New Mexico books, and signed copies bring a premium. To most people these look like any old kids' hardcover, and they get given away for a quarter. You don't have to learn the editions — bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the award firsts and signed copies, protect them, and put the reading copies straight back in front of New Mexico children, with any hidden value put to good use here at home.

Why donate instead of selling it yourself

For a confirmed jacketed Newbery first or a signed copy, selling on your own can pay well. For the rest — later printings, ex-library copies, the readers — listing each book is more work than it's worth, which is why so many children's shelves get dumped intact. Donating handles it in one call: no research, no pricing, no listings, no shipping, free pickup at your door, reading copies to New Mexico kids, and a genuine first recognized and put to good use. Here's where donated books go.

How free pickup works

Call or text 702-496-4214 (or schedule online), tell me roughly how much there is and where you are, and we set a time. I come to you and load it all. I cover Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the surrounding metro, and I handle whole-house, classroom, and estate cleanouts regularly.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I donate Ann Nolan Clark books in Albuquerque?

Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: Secret of the Andes, In My Mother's House, the Pueblo and Navajo stories. Call or text 702-496-4214.

Are her old books worth anything?

The 1952 Newbery first of Secret of the Andes and the 1941 Caldecott-honor In My Mother's House are collectible, signed copies more. They look ordinary — bring it all and let me check.

Ex-library and worn copies too?

Yes — library discards, book-club printings, reading copies. Just don't throw any of it out first.