I accept Isaac Asimov donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: the Foundation and Robot/Empire novels, the Lucky Starr juveniles, the Black Widowers mysteries, and Asimov's enormous nonfiction output across science, history, and literature. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the early hardcovers you might not recognize; the Gnome Press first editions of I, Robot (1950) and the Foundation trilogy (1951–1953) look like ordinary old books and are worth thousands, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.
Published June 2026 · By Josh Eldred, New Mexico Literacy Project
Asimov wrote something like five hundred books, so an Asimov collector's shelf is often a wall — science fiction, science popularizations, mysteries, histories, essay collections, all mixed together. When that library gets cleared, most people just want it gone and don't want to throw out something a collector would prize. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole thing, free, and I check what's in it.
What I take: all of it
The science fiction
The Foundation series (the original trilogy and the later sequels and prequels), the Robot stories and novels (I, Robot; The Caves of Steel; The Naked Sun; The Robots of Dawn), the Galactic Empire novels (Pebble in the Sky, The Stars Like Dust, The Currents of Space), the Lucky Starr juveniles (originally as "Paul French"), and the short-story collections and anthologies.
The mysteries & the rest of the fiction
The Black Widowers mystery collections, The Death Dealers / A Whiff of Death, and the later standalone novels (The Gods Themselves, Nemesis, The End of Eternity).
The nonfiction empire
The science guides (Asimov's Guide to Science, the Understanding Physics volumes), Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare and Guide to the Bible, the history books, the F&SF essay collections, the joke and limerick books, and the autobiographies. If his name is on it, I want it.
You don't have to know what's valuable
Here's the reason to call rather than dump: Asimov's earliest hardcovers were published by Gnome Press, a small specialty house, and those first editions are scarce and valuable today. A first edition of I, Robot (1950) or any volume of the Foundation trilogy (1951–1953) in good condition with its dust jacket can be worth thousands of dollars; his first novel, Pebble in the Sky (1950, Doubleday), matters too. To most people these look like any other tired old science-fiction hardcover, and they get given away for a quarter or recycled.
You don't have to learn the points. Bring the whole shelf and I'll spot the Gnome Press and early Doubleday firsts, check the jackets, protect a genuine first, and keep the reading copies in circulation — with any hidden value supporting literacy instead of vanishing in a giveaway pile.
Why donate instead of selling it yourself
For a confirmed Gnome Press first, selling on your own can pay. But Asimov collections are huge and mostly common, and identifying printings and listing hundreds of books is far more work than they're worth individually — which is why these walls of books so often 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 readers, and a genuine first recognized and supporting New Mexico literacy. 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 — even a whole wall of it. I cover Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the surrounding metro, and I handle whole-house and estate cleanouts regularly.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I donate Isaac Asimov books in Albuquerque?
Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: Foundation, Robot, the mysteries, and all the nonfiction. Call or text 702-496-4214.
Are old Asimov books worth anything?
The Gnome Press firsts (I, Robot 1950; Foundation 1951–53) are scarce and worth thousands; most else is modest. They look like ordinary old hardcovers — bring it all and let me check.
The nonfiction too?
Yes — the science guides, the Shakespeare and Bible guides, the essays and histories, plus worn paperbacks and book-club editions. Just don't throw any of it out first.
Cite This Guide
Eldred, J. (June 2026). Donate Isaac Asimov Books in Albuquerque — Free Pickup. New Mexico Literacy Project.
https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/donate-isaac-asimov-books-albuquerque
Licensed under CC BY 4.0.