Computer and technology books age fast — most thrift channels reject them. NMLP accepts at any age but routes carefully:
- Recent programming books (last 3-5 years) — O'Reilly, No Starch, Manning, Pragmatic Bookshelf editions. Real online resale demand and student demand at UNM, CNM, and the NM tech community.
- Recent system administration and DevOps — Linux references, AWS guides, Kubernetes, recent SRE titles. Online resale demand.
- Database and SQL references — recent editions of major databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) have steady reader demand.
- Web development — recent JavaScript, React, modern frontend titles. Strong demand among self-taught developers and bootcamp students.
- Older programming books (5+ years) — routes mostly to recycling because tech changed. Exceptions: classic CS texts (SICP, Knuth, Cormen Algorithms) hold value indefinitely.
- Microsoft/Apple/Google certification study guides — current cycle only; older editions get recycled.
- Sandia / Kirtland / LANL technical references — see the Sandia/Kirtland/LANL pillar.
Free pickup. 702-496-4214.
The era curve: when tech books gain value back
Tech books follow a U-shaped value curve. Brand-new titles resell. Five-to-twenty-year-old titles are nearly worthless — the technology moved on and the algorithms that price used books online know it. But go back far enough and the curve climbs again: early microcomputer material from the 1970s and 1980s is genuinely collectible. Original Apple, IBM, and Commodore manuals and documentation, early programming-language firsts (a first-printing K&R The C Programming Language is a real collectible), and runs of early computing magazines like Byte all have active collector markets. Albuquerque matters here more than most cities — this is where Microsoft was founded and where the Altair was built, and estate libraries from longtime tech and Sandia families sometimes hold exactly this material. Don't toss a box of old computer paper without letting me look.
CDs, disks, and the hardware question
Software CDs and floppies tucked in back sleeves are fine — leave them in; I pull and recycle media separately when the book routes to pulp. If you're clearing a whole tech shelf, there's usually hardware too: cables, old laptops, dead peripherals. I run a separate free e-waste pickup, so the books and the hardware can go in one trip — mention both when you call.
People also ask
Are old computer manuals worth anything?
Pre-1990 material can be — original Apple, IBM, and Commodore documentation, early language references, and Byte magazine runs have collector markets. The 1995–2015 middle era is the recycling tier; I sort honestly and tell you if something is special.
Can I donate outdated certification guides and Dummies books?
Yes — bring them all. Current-cycle certification guides resell to students; outdated ones get pulped into the paper-recycling stream rather than landfilled. You don't need to sort which is which.
Do you take the old computers and cables too?
Yes — NMLP also runs a free e-waste pickup in the Albuquerque metro. Books and hardware can go in the same pickup; just mention both when you schedule.
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].