New Mexico Highlands University • Las Vegas, NM

NMHU textbook donations — Highlands University books welcome

You finished the semester at Highlands. The education methods textbooks are stacked on your desk, the DSM-5 is gathering dust, and the business stats book isn’t going back to Mora or Springer with you. I take NMHU textbooks year-round, this semester’s editions included — drop them at my 24/7 box in Albuquerque on your way down I-25, or mail them from the Las Vegas post office (donor-paid). Every book stays in circulation instead of landing in a dumpster.

Call 505-250-3804 Text Josh

Start Your Donation

Ready to donate? Tell me what you have and where it is. From Las Vegas that means donor-paid Media Mail or the 24/7 Albuquerque drop box on a trip in; pickup doesn’t reach Las Vegas. Any condition, no sorting. Tell me your timeline and I’ll do my best to work with it. Texts go straight to my phone at 505-250-3804.

Prefer to drop off? Open 24/7.

5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A · no appointment

Drop-off details

Last verified September 2026 · Original research by Josh Eldred

Highlands University and the Las Vegas NM corridor

New Mexico Highlands University sits in Las Vegas, New Mexico — about 125 miles northeast of Albuquerque on I-25. It’s a smaller school, roughly three thousand students, but it punches above its weight in a few areas that matter a lot to New Mexico. The School of Education produces a huge share of the state’s K-12 teachers. The social work program, including the MSW track, trains clinicians who end up serving communities across northern New Mexico. The business program feeds graduates into local and regional economies that need them badly.

What makes NMHU different from a place like UNM or New Mexico State is the student body. A significant percentage of Highlands students come from small towns in northeastern New Mexico — Mora, Wagon Mound, Springer, Roy, Clayton, Raton, and the dozens of communities in between. Many of them are first-generation college students. They drive to Las Vegas for classes, finish the semester, and drive home. The textbooks usually don’t make the return trip. They end up in the back of a closet, in a box under a bed in a campus apartment, or in the dumpster behind the residence halls.

That’s where I come in. The New Mexico Literacy Project is a one-person book operation run by Josh Eldred out of a warehouse at 5445 Edith Blvd NE in Albuquerque. I take donated books — textbooks, personal libraries, faculty collections, anything — and keep them in circulation: resellable titles are listed on Amazon and eBay, children’s and general-interest books I can’t resell I try to rehome through Little Free Libraries and community literacy partners, and what’s left over is recycled. The resale margin funds the whole business. For NMHU students and faculty, the logistics work one of two ways: you drop the books at my 24/7 box when you’re driving through ABQ on I-25, or you mail them from Las Vegas via USPS Media Mail, with postage paid by you, the donor.

I won’t pretend that driving 125 miles to donate textbooks makes sense as a standalone trip. It doesn’t. But most NMHU students and faculty are on I-25 regularly — doctor’s appointments, the airport, Costco, visiting family in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. The drop box is right off the highway. Two minutes, no appointment, no one has to be there. That’s the setup that makes this work for a campus that’s not in my backyard.

The I-25 corridor: Las Vegas to Albuquerque

If you’ve driven from Las Vegas to Albuquerque, you know the route. South on I-25 through the Sangre de Cristos, past Glorieta Pass, through Santa Fe, and down through Bernalillo into the north side of Albuquerque. It’s about an hour and forty-five minutes in good weather. My warehouse at 5445 Edith Blvd NE is in Albuquerque’s North Valley — right off I-25 as you come into town from the north. You don’t even have to cross downtown.

The 24/7 drop box is accessible any time. Drive up, unload the boxes, and you’re back on the highway in a few minutes. No appointment needed, no one has to be on-site, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day someone is at the warehouse to help with a big load. If you’re making the drive anyway — and most NMHU people are, regularly — this is the easiest possible way to get textbooks out of your apartment and into circulation.

For students who don’t make the ABQ trip often, the mail-in option is straightforward: USPS Media Mail from the Las Vegas post office to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123. Media Mail is the post office’s rate for books; it’s slower than Priority Mail, and the postage is on the donor. Pack the books snugly and tape the box well. Everything else you need is on the donate-by-mail page.

If you want help planning a shipment or a drop-off, text 505-250-3804 and I’ll help you work out the logistics. No cost, no obligation.

NMHU School of Education textbooks

The School of Education is the heart of Highlands University. It has been for decades. NMHU produces a disproportionate share of New Mexico’s K-12 teachers, especially for rural districts and local schools. If you teach in a small town in northern New Mexico, there’s a good chance you got your degree or your endorsement at Highlands.

Education programs run on required texts. Methods courses, foundations courses, literacy instruction, special education, bilingual education, educational psychology, assessment and measurement, classroom management — each course has its own required text, and those texts cycle to new editions every three to four years. A single semester of education coursework can easily leave a student with six to eight textbooks.

Here’s what I see with education textbooks from NMHU. Current-edition required texts go straight back out to the next education student, so bring them. Older editions matter too: plenty of working teachers in rural districts keep an older methods textbook on the shelf as a professional reference, long after the campus course has moved to a new edition.

Bilingual education and ESL/TESOL textbooks get a mention of their own. New Mexico has a high demand for bilingual teachers, and NMHU’s bilingual education program reflects that. The textbooks for those courses — second-language acquisition theory, bilingual methods, dual-language program design — are assigned by bilingual education programs across the country, so they’re especially welcome here.

Special education textbooks follow a similar pattern. The core texts on IEP development, learning disabilities, autism spectrum interventions, behavioral supports — those stay useful for a long time because the content changes slowly relative to the edition cycle. A special education text from two editions ago is still useful to a working special educator, even if it’s not the one currently being assigned in a college course.

If you’re an NMHU education major finishing your program, your textbooks have more life left in them than you probably think. Don’t put them in the dumpster. Text 505-250-3804 with any questions about mailing or dropping them off. Everything gets donated on a no-cost basis, and the books go back into circulation where teachers and students can use them.

Social work and MSW program textbooks

NMHU’s social work program, including the Master of Social Work track, produces clinicians and case managers who serve some of the most underserved communities in the state. The textbooks for that program are specialized. DSM manuals, clinical practice guides, human behavior in the social environment texts, social welfare policy books, research methods for social work, group therapy manuals, substance abuse counseling texts — the list is long.

The DSM-5-TR deserves its own mention. It’s the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and every social work student needs one. The current edition is required not just for coursework but for clinical practice after graduation, so a donated copy gets used right away. Prior editions — the DSM-5, the DSM-IV-TR — are welcome too. Plenty of graduates no longer need the physical copy once their employer provides digital access.

Clinical practice textbooks are welcome too. Texts on cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, crisis intervention — these are used well beyond social work programs. Counseling psychology programs, marriage and family therapy programs, and substance abuse counselor training programs all use overlapping core texts. A clinical practice textbook donated by an NMHU MSW student might end up with a counseling student at a university in another state entirely. That’s how the circulation works.

Social welfare policy textbooks tend to have shorter shelf lives because policy changes. A policy text that references the Affordable Care Act as proposed legislation is outdated in ways that matter. But older editions still serve as reference material and for courses on the history of social welfare policy. I take them all and sort them on my end.

If you’re finishing your BSW or MSW at Highlands, the stack of textbooks in your apartment still has real use in it, even the titles the campus bookstore won’t take back. Donate them through NMLP and they’ll keep circulating. Text 505-250-3804 with any questions about getting them to me.

Business program textbooks

NMHU’s School of Business offers programs in accounting, management, and general business administration. The textbooks follow the same pattern as most college business programs: principles of accounting, managerial accounting, business statistics, organizational behavior, marketing, finance, and economics. Publishers cycle these editions frequently, and the content changes enough between them to matter.

Current-edition business textbooks are welcome here: an accounting principles text on this semester’s syllabus goes straight to the next student who needs it. Older editions come too. Most NMHU business students hold onto their textbooks for one or two semesters after the course ends, then clear them out; whenever that happens, the drop box and the mail-in address take them.

Economics textbooks come through often. Mankiw, Krugman, Samuelson — the major introductory economics texts are so widely assigned that even prior editions keep getting read, and intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics texts are welcome right alongside them.

Business law textbooks, management information systems texts, and operations management books round out the typical NMHU business collection. I take all of them, current editions included, in one box. Donate the whole shelf and the books continue circulating instead of taking up space in your closet for another three years.

The rural New Mexico angle

This is the part that makes NMHU donations different from, say, UNM donations. A lot of NMHU students come from small communities in northeastern New Mexico. Mora. Wagon Mound. Springer. Roy. Clayton. Raton. Cimarron. Angel Fire. Eagle Nest. Taos. Pecos. These are towns where the nearest bookstore might be an hour’s drive away. There’s no Half Price Books, no local used bookshop, no easy way to offload a stack of textbooks at the end of a semester.

When a student from Mora finishes their education degree at NMHU and moves home to teach at the local school, those textbooks often end up in a box in a garage. They don’t go to a bookstore. They don’t get listed on Amazon. They sit. For years. Eventually they get thrown out during a move or a cleanout. That’s a waste, because many of those education textbooks could be circulating through programs and classrooms across the country.

The mail-in option exists specifically for this scenario. You don’t have to drive to Albuquerque. You don’t have to wait until you happen to be passing through. Walk into the Las Vegas post office (or the Springer post office, or the Raton post office) and ship the box via Media Mail to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123. Media Mail is the post office’s rate for books, and the postage is donor-paid.

I know one post-office trip for a handful of books can feel like a lot. But consider this: if you’re a retired teacher in Raton with a shelf of education textbooks from your Highlands days, or a social worker in Clayton with a stack of MSW texts you haven’t opened in five years, or a business grad in Springer who’s been meaning to deal with those accounting books since 2019 — one trip to the post office clears the shelf and puts the books back where they can do something. That’s the pitch. It’s not complicated.

If you’re on the fence, here’s what happens to the box: every book that arrives is sorted by hand, readable copies go back into circulation, and the rest is recycled responsibly. Text 505-250-3804 with any questions. Either way, I’d rather they come to me than sit in a garage for another decade.

Two ways to donate NMHU textbooks from Las Vegas

Free pickup covers only the Albuquerque metro, so Highlands donors have two easy routes. Each one takes every textbook you have, any edition and any condition, with no appointment and no sorting.

The 24/7 drop box on I-25

Best for: anyone already driving south to Albuquerque for an appointment, a flight, or a Costco run. The box sits outside the gate near the road at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, covered and waterproof, open day and night.

Big load or a full box? Keep the extra boxes in the car and text 505-250-3804, or time the stop for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., when someone at the warehouse can help unload. Nothing gets left beside the box.

Getting there: Edith Blvd is on Albuquerque’s north side, so coming south on I-25 you reach it before downtown. Take the Montaño Rd exit (228), head west, and turn south on Edith.

Donor-paid mail-in

Best for: NMHU alumni in Mora, Raton, Clayton or anywhere else who don’t get to Albuquerque often. Box the books and ship them by USPS Media Mail to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123.

The cost: postage only, paid by the donor. I don’t reimburse shipping and never buy books; the resale of donated books is what keeps the operation running.

How-to: packing tips and what Media Mail covers are on the donate-by-mail page. No window, no edition restrictions, no condition minimum.

Buyback lines and trade-in sites take time and pay only for a narrow list of current titles; the drop box or one mailed box takes all of your Highlands textbooks at once, this semester’s included.

Both routes run year-round. Clearing out in July, or found a forgotten box of textbooks in October? The drop box is always open, and the phone number is always 505-250-3804.

End-of-semester timing at NMHU

The two big turnover windows at Highlands are May and December, same as everywhere else. Finals wrap up, residence halls close, apartments turn over, and a semester’s worth of textbooks needs to go somewhere. The May window is usually bigger because it includes graduating students who are clearing out completely, not just between semesters.

Here’s the timing reality for NMHU students: donating has no deadline. You can drop or ship books any time of year. But if you want the books out of your life before you leave Las Vegas for the summer, planning ahead by a few days makes everything easier.

The scenario I see most often: a student finishes finals on Thursday, has to be out of their apartment by Saturday, and suddenly realizes they have two boxes of textbooks they haven’t dealt with. If you’re driving south through ABQ on the way home, load the boxes in the car and drop them at 5445 Edith Blvd NE. It adds maybe five minutes to your drive. If you’re going north to Raton or Clayton, box them up and ship them from the Las Vegas post office before you leave town. Either way, the books are handled and you’re not carrying them to wherever you’re going for the summer.

For December, the dynamic is similar but compressed. Winter break starts, students clear out, and the weather adds a variable. I-25 through Glorieta Pass in December can be dicey. If you’re not sure about the drive, ship the books. Media Mail doesn’t care about road conditions.

Summer session produces a smaller wave of textbook turnover, but it still happens. Graduate students finishing summer intensives, education majors completing student-teaching prerequisites, MSW students wrapping up clinical coursework — all of those generate textbooks that need somewhere to go. The 24/7 drop box and the phone number (505-250-3804) work the same in June as they do in December.

NMHU faculty libraries

Highlands has professors who’ve been there for decades. That’s not an exaggeration — NMHU is the kind of place where a faculty member starts teaching in their thirties and retires at sixty-five from the same office. Over thirty years, those office shelves accumulate a significant personal library. Academic press hardcovers, journal runs, instructor editions of textbooks, conference proceedings, and — often — personal-collection signed and inscribed copies from colleagues, former students who became authors, and visiting lecturers.

When a Highlands professor retires or a department reshuffles office space, that library has to go somewhere. The university usually doesn’t want it — the Thomas C. Donnelly Library has its own collection management priorities and can’t absorb every retiring professor’s personal shelves. The books end up in boxes in a closet, or worse, in a recycling bin behind the building.

The process is straightforward: I take the whole library. No cherry-picking, no sorting on your end. Signed and inscribed copies get looked at one at a time at the warehouse. Academic press hardcovers, instructor editions, and examination copies all come too, and I sort them on my end.

For NMHU faculty, the education library is often the heart of it. A professor who taught literacy methods for twenty-five years has a shelf that spans the evolution of reading instruction in the United States, and those older texts still get read. Bring the whole run.

Social work faculty libraries at NMHU follow a similar pattern. Clinical practice texts, policy analysis books, and community organizing literature accumulate over a career. The DSM editions alone — from DSM-III through DSM-5-TR — tell the story of diagnostic evolution in mental health, and researchers still use the older editions.

If you’re a Highlands faculty member thinking about retirement, or a department administrator dealing with an office cleanout, call or text 505-250-3804. I’ll talk you through the logistics. Pickup covers only the Albuquerque metro, so from Las Vegas it’s donor-paid mail-in or the 24/7 drop box; for a big load, come between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. so someone can help unload.

Common scenarios I see from NMHU donors

The education major finishing student teaching

Four years of education coursework, six to ten methods textbooks, a few children’s literature anthologies, and a stack of supplementary readings. You’re about to start your first teaching job in Taos or Mora or Las Cruces. The books helped you get the degree. Now they need a new home. Box them up and drop them at the 24/7 box on your way through ABQ, or ship from Las Vegas.

The MSW graduate heading to a clinical placement

Your DSM manual, your clinical practice texts, your research methods books, your policy textbooks. You’re starting a clinical position and your employer provides digital access to everything you need. The physical copies are just weight. Donate them through NMLP and they’ll end up with the next cohort of social work students or working clinicians who prefer physical copies.

The business grad moving to Albuquerque

You’re relocating from Las Vegas to ABQ for a job. The accounting textbooks, the management texts, and the marketing books are in a box that’s been in your trunk since you graduated. Drop them at 5445 Edith Blvd NE on your way to your new apartment. Two minutes and the box is out of your car.

The retiring professor clearing thirty years of shelves

You’ve been at Highlands since the 1990s. The office has academic press hardcovers from three decades, signed copies from colleagues, journal volumes, instructor editions, and a few boxes you haven’t opened since you moved offices in 2008. Call 505-250-3804 and I’ll help you plan it: mail-in in batches, or a loaded vehicle on your next trip south to the 24/7 box, ideally between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. so someone can help unload.

The department office cleanout

The School of Education is reorganizing space and there’s a closet full of old textbooks, instructor copies, and sample materials from publishers. No one knows who they belong to. No one wants to sort them. I take the whole closet. No minimum, no maximum, no sorting required on your end. Call 505-250-3804 and I’ll help you plan the shipping or the drop-off.

The alumni with a garage full of Highlands books

You graduated from NMHU in 2012. The textbooks have been in a box in your garage in Raton ever since. You keep meaning to do something with them. This is the something. Ship them via Media Mail to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123. Or text 505-250-3804 with any questions about packing and shipping.

The 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE

The drop box is at my warehouse: 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A, Albuquerque, NM 87107. It’s in the North Valley, right off I-25. If you’re coming from Las Vegas on I-25 south, you hit Albuquerque’s north side first, and Edith Blvd is accessible without crossing downtown or dealing with the Big-I interchange.

The box is accessible twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No appointment needed. No one has to be on-site. The box is covered and waterproof, outside the gate near the road. Drive up, put the boxes or bags of books in the box, and leave. Someone is at the warehouse from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day if you want a hand.

For NMHU people, this is the most natural option if you’re already driving through Albuquerque. Coming south from Las Vegas for a medical appointment at Presbyterian or UNM Hospital? Drop the books on your way. Heading to the Sunport for a flight? Edith Blvd is on the way. Making a Costco run? Same thing. The point is that you don’t have to make a special trip. You just add a two-minute stop to a trip you were already making.

If you have more than the box holds, don’t leave anything beside it: text 505-250-3804, or come between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., when someone at the warehouse can help unload. For a single box or a bag of books, just drop and go.

What I take and what happens to it

I take everything. Textbooks in any condition, any edition (this semester’s included), any subject. Personal-collection books. Faculty libraries. Novels, nonfiction, children’s books, DVDs, CDs. There’s no minimum condition, no minimum quantity, and no subject I turn away. If it’s a book, I’ll take it.

Once the books arrive at the warehouse, every title gets sorted by hand. Here’s how the sorting works:

Resale: books the next reader is looking for are listed on Amazon and eBay. The resale margin funds the entire NMLP operation.

Community tier: readable books that won’t resell go to community literacy partners, which take children’s books and age-appropriate titles, and to Little Free Libraries throughout the metro.

Recycle tier: books no reader can use go to a regional pulp recycler. Water-damaged books and books with torn pages beyond usability get recycled responsibly rather than going to a landfill.

Nothing gets thrown in a dumpster if I can help it. The whole system is designed to move books into their best next use — whether that’s resale, community donation, or responsible recycling. When you donate NMHU textbooks through NMLP, you’re feeding that system instead of contributing to the landfill.

How to get started

Option 1: Drop at the 24/7 box

Drive to 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A, Albuquerque, NM 87107. Put the boxes or bags in the box, which sits outside the gate near the road. No appointment, no one needs to be there. Two minutes and done.

Best for: NMHU students and faculty already driving through ABQ on I-25.

Option 2: Mail via USPS Media Mail

Ship to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123, by USPS Media Mail, the post office’s book rate. Postage is donor-paid. Available at any post office in Las Vegas, Springer, Raton, or wherever you are; the donate-by-mail page has the details.

Best for: NMHU alumni in rural NM who don’t drive to ABQ regularly.

Option 3: Bring a big load 8 to 3

Ten boxes or a whole office? Drive it to the warehouse between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., any day of the week, when someone is there to help unload. Text 505-250-3804 if you have questions first.

Best for: retiring faculty and department office cleanouts with more than the drop box holds.

Not sure which option makes sense for you? Text 505-250-3804 and I’ll help you figure out the best route. No cost, no obligation, no sales pitch.

More textbook donation guides

Donate Textbooks in Albuquerque

The main guide to how textbook donations work across New Mexico.

End-of-Semester Textbook Guide

What to do with textbooks when finals wrap and the apartment turns over.

Teacher Textbook Donations

For NMHU education grads now teaching in New Mexico classrooms.

Current Editions & Program Texts

Nursing, law, engineering, accounting and CS textbooks: all welcome as donations, this semester’s included.

Frequently asked

Can I drop off NMHU textbooks without driving to Albuquerque?

Yes. You can mail books via USPS Media Mail from the Las Vegas NM post office (or any post office) to New Mexico Literacy Project, 14204 Marquette Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123; postage is donor-paid, and the donate-by-mail page covers packing. If you’re driving through ABQ on I-25, the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A is right off the highway and takes about two minutes. Call or text 505-250-3804 if you want help with either option.

Is there free pickup in Las Vegas NM?

No. Free pickup is for the Albuquerque metro only. From Las Vegas and the rest of northeastern New Mexico, use the 24/7 drop box in Albuquerque on a trip south, or mail the textbooks to me with donor-paid Media Mail.

Does NMLP pay cash for NMHU textbooks?

No. NMLP is a donation operation, and I never buy books. Every NMHU textbook is welcome as a donation instead: this semester’s editions, older editions, electives, supplementary readings, social work texts and education manuals alike. Every donated book is sorted by hand, and resale of donated titles is what funds the business.

Which NMHU textbooks do you take?

Every one — there’s no minimum condition or subject restriction, and current editions are as welcome as old ones. Education textbooks from the NMHU School of Education, social work and MSW texts including DSM manuals and clinical practice guides, and business, accounting and economics textbooks come through most often. Older education methods textbooks keep getting used, because many teachers in rural NM districts rely on them as professional references long after the campus course ends.

I’m graduating from NMHU and moving — can you take my entire book collection?

Yes, the whole collection. If you’re driving through Albuquerque on the way out, load the boxes and drop them at the 24/7 box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. if it’s a big load. If you’re leaving from Las Vegas NM without passing through, ship them by USPS Media Mail, postage donor-paid. Pickup doesn’t reach Las Vegas.

Do you accept faculty office libraries from NMHU?

Yes. Faculty retirements, office cleanouts, and department reshuffles at NMHU produce whole libraries, and I take them whole — no cherry-picking required. Signed copies, academic press hardcovers, and journal runs mixed in with standard textbooks all come along, and I sort them on my end. From Las Vegas it’s donor-paid mail-in or the 24/7 drop box; for a big load, come between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

What’s the 24/7 drop box and where is it?

The 24/7 drop box is at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A, Albuquerque, NM 87107, outside the gate near the road. It’s covered and waterproof and accessible any time — no appointment needed, no one has to be on-site. For NMHU students and faculty driving south on I-25 from Las Vegas, it’s a quick exit off the highway in Albuquerque’s North Valley. If it’s full, text 505-250-3804 or come between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Should I drive from Las Vegas NM to Albuquerque just to donate books?

Probably not as a standalone trip — that’s 125 miles each way. But if you’re already making the drive for any reason (doctor’s appointment, airport, Costco run, visiting family), the drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE is right off I-25 and takes about two minutes. Otherwise, donor-paid USPS Media Mail from Las Vegas NM is easy. Most NMHU donors use one of those two approaches.

What happens to the textbooks I donate?

Resellable textbooks go on Amazon or eBay — that resale margin funds the entire business. Readable books that won’t resell go to community literacy partners and Little Free Libraries throughout the metro. Books no reader can use go to a regional pulp recycler. Nothing a reader could use gets thrown away, and no book goes to the landfill.

Your Highlands textbooks deserve better than a dumpster

Drop at the 24/7 box on I-25 or mail from Las Vegas NM, postage donor-paid. Every edition is welcome, and every book stays in circulation.

Call or Text 505-250-3804 Email [email protected]

5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A, Albuquerque, NM 87107