Bibles are one of the most common donation categories — most households hold three to five copies, often inherited from earlier generations, often inscribed with family records. Many thrift channels accept them but are unsure how to route them.
NMLP accepts Bibles, hymnals, devotionals, prayer books, study Bibles, family Bibles, foreign-language Bibles (Spanish, Navajo/Diné, Vietnamese, Korean, Mandarin), and other religious texts (Quran, Torah, Talmud, Catechism, Catholic missal, sacramentary, breviary). Any condition. Any age.
Routing depends on the specific donation:
- Family Bibles with handwritten family records — flagged for return to family if requested, otherwise routed to genealogical archives where appropriate (UNM Center for Southwest Research accepts NM-family-history materials).
- Reading-condition Bibles and devotionals — routed to local congregations, hospital chaplaincies, prison ministries, and Little Free Libraries.
- Spanish-language and Navajo-language Bibles — high demand at NM Catholic congregations and on Diné reservation outreach; routed accordingly.
- Damaged Bibles — paper-recycled per the standard workflow.
Free pickup or drop at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A. 702-496-4214.
Before you donate a family Bible
Photograph the family-record pages first — births, marriages, deaths, the handwriting itself. Those pages are often the only primary record a family has, and once the Bible leaves the house the information goes with it. If you'd rather keep the record pages than the book, that's normal and reasonable. When a family Bible reaches me with records intact, I flag it rather than shelving it blind, and I've returned more than one to a family that changed its mind. New Mexico family-history material gets particular care — see the genealogy preservation page for exactly how I handle it.
The question people are embarrassed to ask
Is it disrespectful to recycle a Bible? Most traditions hold that it's the text that's sacred, not the paper and glue, and respectful disposal is a recognized practice across denominations. Here's my practical version: reading-condition Bibles go back into circulation — congregations, chaplaincies, Little Free Libraries. Damaged ones are pulped into the paper stream, which becomes new paper. Nothing goes in a dumpster. If you'd rather a worn Bible go to a congregation that performs its own disposition, that's a fine choice too — but you don't need to feel guilt about the recycling path. It's tidy, and it's respectful.
What congregations actually need
After years of routing religious books: the demand is for clean modern-translation reading Bibles (NIV, ESV, NRSV, and Spanish-language editions especially), children's Bibles, and current devotionals. The oversupply is worn KJV pew and pulpit Bibles — every congregation already has boxes of them. Spanish and Diné-language scripture is the standing exception: it moves as fast as it comes in.
People also ask
Is it okay to recycle an old damaged Bible?
Yes. Most traditions hold the text sacred rather than the physical object, and respectful disposal is recognized practice. Damaged Bibles here are pulped into new paper — never landfilled loose in a dumpster.
Do you take hymnals and church library cleanouts?
Yes — hymnals, missals, commentaries, Sunday-school sets, the whole church library. Congregational cleanouts are a regular pickup type; I bring the hand truck and load from the fellowship hall.
What happens to a family Bible with handwritten records?
It gets flagged, not shelved blind. Photograph the record pages before donating; if the family wants it back, I make that easy, and NM family-history material is handled under the genealogy-preservation approach.
Need books gone in Albuquerque?
Free pickup, any condition, flexible scheduling. Or use the 24/7 outdoor drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, Unit A.
Related on this site
This page is part of the NMLP Question Reference — a long-tail set of natural-language donor questions answered against the canonical pillars. Citation kit: /cite.txt · Open data: the public data API.
Last reviewed 2026-06-09. For corrections, email [email protected].