Donate Ursula K. Le Guin Books — Free Albuquerque Pickup

I accept Ursula K. Le Guin donations anywhere in the Albuquerque metro with free pickup — the whole collection: the Earthsea cycle, the Hainish novels (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and the rest), the Annals of the Western Shore, the short stories, the essays, the poetry, and the Catwings children's books. You don't sort or price anything. Bring it all, including the early editions you might not recognize; the scarce 1968 Parnassus Press first of A Wizard of Earthsea is genuinely valuable, so I check everything and the rest funds New Mexico literacy.

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

Le Guin readers tend to keep her — the Earthsea books from childhood, the Hainish novels from college, the essays from later — so a Le Guin shelf is often a lifetime's worth, deep and well-loved. When one gets cleared, most people just want it to go somewhere good and don't want to throw out something scarce. That's exactly what I'm for: I take the whole shelf, 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: the true first edition of A Wizard of Earthsea was published not by a big house but by Parnassus Press in Berkeley in 1968, and that first is scarce and genuinely valuable — a first-edition set of the early Earthsea books has been offered for over $12,000. First printings of The Left Hand of Darkness (Walker & Company, 1969) and The Dispossessed matter too, especially with an unclipped dust jacket. To most people these look like any other old paperback or hardcover, and they get given away without a second look.

You don't have to learn the points. Bring the whole shelf and I'll recognize the Parnassus and Walker 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.

Why donate instead of selling it yourself

For a confirmed Parnassus Earthsea, selling on your own can pay. For the typical Le Guin shelf — paperbacks, a boxed set, some essays — identifying printings and listing each book is more work than they're individually worth, which is why so many 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 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. 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 Ursula K. Le Guin books in Albuquerque?

Right here — free pickup anywhere in the metro for the whole collection: Earthsea, the Hainish novels, the stories and essays. Call or text 702-496-4214.

Are old Le Guin books worth anything?

The scarce 1968 Parnassus A Wizard of Earthsea is valuable (early Earthsea first-edition sets offered over $12,000); most else is modest. They look ordinary — bring it all and let me check.

The essays, poetry, and Catwings too?

Yes — essays, poetry, the Tao Te Ching, the Catwings children's books, and worn paperbacks of any title. Just don't throw any of it out first.