Last verified May 2026 · Original research by Josh Eldred
The Fastest Way to Get Rid of Books Before a Move
Books are the heaviest, most annoying thing to move. A single bookshelf can fill 4–5 heavy boxes. And most people don't want to pay movers to haul books they'll never read again.
The New Mexico Literacy Project's 24/7 outdoor drop box is the fastest option. Drive up anytime — the night before your move, 6 AM on moving day, or any time in between. No appointment, no waiting, no sorting. Just drop everything off and go.
For larger collections (multiple shelves, a whole room, an entire household), call or text 702-496-4214 to schedule. Free pickup is available for large loads anywhere in the Albuquerque metro, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, and the South Valley.
The math on shipping books cross-country: USPS Media Mail charges common reading copy range per box of books depending on weight. UPS and FedEx Ground for the same box runs the common reading copy to mid-range zone. A typical 30-box household library shipped via Media Mail costs the mid-range to upper collectible zone; via UPS Ground it costs four-figure collectible territory. The cost of donating the books and rebuying the few you actually want at the new location is almost always lower than shipping the full collection.
Common moving scenarios in Albuquerque
Selling Your Home
Real estate agents refer clients to me when books are slowing down a home sale. Empty bookshelves photograph better and let buyers project their own books onto the room. Pickup scheduled before the first showing or open house.
Apartment Move-Out
Lease day at 11 AM Saturday. Boxes of books are the heaviest, lowest-priority item on the moving truck. Drop off in the 24/7 box during finals week or call for pickup the Tuesday before.
Downsizing
Moving from a four-bedroom into a one-bedroom or assisted living. The bookshelf next to the new bed is the only one that fits. The rest gets picked up at the original residence. Downsizing Guide.
Estate Cleanout
Closing the deceased's house. Books are the heaviest single category by weight in most household estates. Free pickup, no donation pressure, no minimum quantity. Executor's Field Guide.
Moving Out of State
Cost arithmetic favors donation almost every time. USPS Media Mail at common reading copy range/box adds up; UPS/FedEx Ground at the common reading copy to mid-range zone/box adds up faster. Buy back the few must-haves at the destination instead.
Spring Cleaning
No move at all — just deciding which books to keep. The 24/7 drop box accepts any size load at any hour. Decluttering Guide.
Storage Unit Cleanout
Books sitting in a storage unit you have been paying rent on for years. I pick up directly from the storage bay — no need to haul boxes to your car first.
Moving INTO Albuquerque? The boxes you never want to unpack.
Albuquerque has been one of the country's higher inbound-migration metros for several years — people coming in from California, Texas, the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest. The mover packed your books in a few dozen heavy boxes, you paid by weight to ship them across the country, and the boxes are now sitting in a corner of the new place. They've been sitting there for two months. Six months. A year.
You're not going to unpack them. You either don't have the shelving, don't have the time, or you've realized that the books that fit your last life aren't the books you want for this one. The ABQ winter is dry, the shelves are full of stuff from the old house that no longer fits, and the moving boxes are taking up the room you wanted for an exercise bike.
Call or text 702-496-4214 with your new ABQ address and I'll come to you with a hand truck. Free in-home pickup anywhere in the metro — including Westside, Rio Rancho, Corrales, the East Mountains, the South Valley. The boxes you boxed up at your old place leave with me, sealed or open, sorted or not. You get the corner of your new house back. If you want to sell some of them before donating, my guide on how to get rid of books fast when moving covers the fastest options when you are on a deadline.
If you're a recent transplant who’s settling in and would like a curated suggestion of books that’ll teach you about your new state — the Hillerman / Anaya / Silko / Momaday canon, the colonial-history sweep, the deep weirdness of UFO-era Roswell — my Southwest Author hub is the starter map.
PCS out of Kirtland? Don't pay weight on the books.
If you’re PCSing out of Kirtland AFB, the books are the weight problem nobody tells you about until the movers arrive. Standard HHG weight allowances don’t carry a bookshelf well — an average bookshelf is 200 to 300 pounds of awkward, dimensional weight. Active-duty enlisted families especially come in tight to allowance and end up paying overage on books they didn’t want at the next duty station anyway.
I do PCS pickups regularly — on-base housing on Kirtland, off-base housing in southeast ABQ, the South Valley, the Foothills. Free, no questions about rank, no questions about religion or content, no minimum size. The books leave my warehouse and re-enter circulation through Albuquerque used-book channels and a regional pulp recycler for what doesn’t move. Nothing goes to a base dumpster. For the full rundown on how military family donations work, see the Kirtland AFB military family book donation guide.
Schedule a few days before your pack-out is best so I can come on a weekday and you can use the weekend for the actual move. Text 702-496-4214 with your move date and I'll come.
Bonus — if there are scientific or technical books from a Sandia / Air Force Research Lab / Phillips Lab career in the boxes, I have a specific pillar guide on how those collections work and where the technical handbooks actually go (not landfill).
Moving out of the dorm or apartment? The textbook problem.
End of spring semester. Your apartment lease is up at the end of May. The next-edition textbook came out in February so the bookstore won’t buy back your copy. Your roommate is throwing a party that ends with a curb pile. You don’t want to ship organic chem 8th edition home to your parents’ house in another state.
Drop everything in the 24/7 outdoor drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A. It’s a ten-minute drive from main campus. The box is open at 2 AM the night you finish packing. Any textbook, any edition, any condition. Highlighters, sticky notes, water-damage from leaving it on the dorm floor — doesn’t matter. I take the whole stack.
For a dorm or apartment full of accumulated stuff — not just textbooks but the novels you stocked up on for breaks, the cookbooks you used twice, the stack of magazines — call 702-496-4214 for free pickup. Faster than carrying boxes down four flights of stairs to your hatchback.
If you have any STEM textbooks, signed first editions, or Southwest-author titles you actually want to sell rather than donate, my sell textbooks guide covers what's worth flagging and what to expect. See also: end-of-semester textbook guide, UNM textbook donations, CNM textbook donations.
What gets accepted
Every condition tier of paper-based reading material. Plus DVDs, CDs, vinyl LPs, and audiobooks-on-CD.
Books
Hardcover, paperback, any condition
Textbooks
Any edition, highlighted OK
DVDs & Blu-rays
With or without cases
CDs & Vinyl LPs
Audiobooks-on-CD too
No sorting required. The four-tier condition framework is documented at the condition-grades reference. Damaged books also accepted.
Moving Donation FAQ
Where can I donate books when moving in Albuquerque?
The free 24/7 outdoor drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A. For larger loads, call or text 702-496-4214 to schedule a free in-home pickup anywhere in the metro.
Can I drop off the night before my move?
Yes — any time. Midnight, 5 AM, weekends, holidays. The drop box has no gate, no fee, and no appointment required. Pull up, drop the boxes in, leave.
Is in-home pickup actually free, or does it cost something for large moves?
Free, no caveat, no minimum. Pickups in the 200-2,000 book range are routine; multi-day cleanouts up to 4,000+ books are handled. The cost of running the operation is funded by the small fraction of donations that have online resale value (5-15% by volume), not by donor fees.
How fast can a pickup be scheduled when I'm in a closing-date squeeze?
Most pickups are scheduled of the call. pickups are possible when the calendar permits, and closing-date scenarios are the highest scheduling priority. Tell me the date the house closes or the lease ends and the pickup is built around that.
Do books need to be in good condition?
No. Every condition tier accepted: clean and shelf-ready, reader-ready with cosmetic wear, salvage-ready (water-damaged, mildewed, smoke-touched), and recycle-only. Recycle-only material routes to a regional commercial paper pulper, not the landfill. The four-tier framework is documented here.
Is this a charity? Can I get a tax deduction?
No. NMLP is a for-profit New Mexico business. Donations are not tax-deductible. If a tax deduction matters for the move, route to a 501(c)(3) channel — but be aware that most deduction-eligible options decline mixed-condition collections of the size that come out of moves. The trade-off explanation is at the Executor's Field Guide.
What if I have a few books that might be valuable?
Set them aside. Photograph the title page, copyright page, and dust jacket of any candidate. Text the photos to 702-496-4214 for a free informal pass-or-investigate-further triage before deciding whether to formally appraise or list. Categories worth flagging: signed Hillerman/Anaya/Abbey/Cather, scarce regional NM titles, fine-binding sets in original condition, anything pre-1900 in original binding. The top-50 NM first editions reference covers the rest.
Don't Move Those Books — Donate Them
5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A — open 24/7
Or call 702-496-4214 for large loads.
From other movers, in their own words.
Three short essays from real Albuquerque donors. If any of these sound like your week, you’re in the right place.
Where the Books Will Find Readers
A woman moving who couldn’t bear the thought of the landfill. “I just want them to go to someone who will read them.”
For families letting goBooks Are Heavy
A man on a porch with nine boxes of his mother’s library. “People love books, but they are heavy.”
For donors told to sort firstThe Library Wouldn’t Take His Books
A donor told to sort “the good ones” first. He didn’t know which were good. Look what he handed over.