What to Do With Old Encyclopedias

The Short Answer

Does Goodwill take old encyclopedias?

Often not, and it depends on the store. Each regional Goodwill sets its own list: Goodwill of New Mexico accepts books and doesn't mention encyclopedias, while Goodwill of Southern Arizona and Goodwill of Northwest North Carolina list encyclopedias among items they can't accept. Albuquerque's public library doesn't take them either. I take full or partial sets, any condition — 24/7 drop box or free metro pickup.

Stores that sell by the shelf pass on sets for a reason. Encyclopaedia Britannica, first published in 1768, announced in 2012 that its 2010 printing would be its last, and Wikipedia had been free to read since 2001. The sets still around are the ones families bought decades ago, so there are far more of them than shelf space for them. Ask your local store first if you like. Sources, checked September 28, 2026: Goodwill of New Mexico donation list, Goodwill of Southern Arizona, Goodwill of Northwest NC, Albuquerque & Bernalillo County library donation policy.

My box is covered and waterproof, and it sits outside the gate near the road at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, in the North Valley near Edith and Montano. If a set won’t fit or the box is full, come between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. any day, when someone is at the warehouse to help you unload, or text 505-250-3804.

Are Old Encyclopedias Worth Anything?

This is the first thing people ask me about an inherited set, and the honest answer is almost always no. Families remember what a set of World Book or Britannica cost new and assume some of that value survived. It didn't. The sets were sold door to door in enormous numbers, nearly all of them survive, and the information in them is now free online. There are far more sets than people who want one.

I don't appraise or price sets for anyone. Whatever you have is welcome here, including the rare old set, and every volume is looked at by hand before anything is decided.

Why Libraries and Many Thrift Stores Won't Take Them

I hear the same story every week: "I tried Goodwill, Salvation Army, the library, and two thrift stores. Nobody would take my encyclopedias." Here is why:

Libraries rarely want donated print encyclopedias. The Albuquerque & Bernalillo County library’s donation policy names encyclopedias, textbooks, magazines and Reader’s Digest Condensed Books among the items it doesn’t accept, and asks donors to recycle them.

Thrift stores often refuse them because a 20-volume set fills an entire shelf section and sits unsold. Some regional Goodwills list encyclopedias as not accepted outright.

Mail-in buyback doesn't work for them either: shipping a multi-volume set costs more than a buyer would pay for it.

That leaves one real question: where can I actually bring these? In the Albuquerque metro, the answer is me.

How to Recycle Old Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias are recyclable, but a hardcover set needs a few minutes of prep so it doesn't get pulled out of the recycling stream:

1. Remove the hard covers. Open each volume flat and cut or tear the front and back boards away at the spine. The boards, cloth or imitation-leather covering, and glue go in the trash.
2. Check your local program. Many curbside programs take the bare page block as mixed paper; some want books taken to a paper drop-off instead. Your city's recycling page will say; Albuquerque's blue cart, for one, lists books as accepted.
3. Keep everything dry. Wet or moldy paper contaminates a recycling load, so damp volumes go in the trash.
4. Pull out single volumes worth reusing first. Volumes with good maps, plates or illustrations are the ones crafters and teachers ask for.

In Albuquerque you can skip every step: bring the set to the drop box or have me pick it up, covers on. I sort it and recycle what can't be reused (here's how book recycling works in Albuquerque). No book goes to the landfill.

Other Ways to Reuse Old Encyclopedias

If you're outside the Albuquerque area, or you'd like part of the set to go somewhere specific, these are the realistic options:

Creative Reuse

Crafters and artists use encyclopedia pages for decoupage, collage, paper crafts and art journals, and whole volumes become bookends, risers and shelf decor. Volumes with strong illustrations, maps or typography are the ones people ask for.

Theater and Film Props

Community theaters and film productions often need books for set dressing. Ask the prop room at a local community theater; a few matching volumes can be welcome there.

Classrooms and Buy Nothing Groups

Art teachers and homeschool families sometimes want a handful of volumes for projects. A post in a local Buy Nothing or neighborhood group is the fastest way to find them; offer single volumes, not the whole shelf.

What Not to Do

Don't put encyclopedias in the trash. A 20-volume set is roughly 50 pounds of paper that can be reused or recycled into new products. And don't stuff a set into a Little Free Library or a library donation bin; whoever runs it will just have to haul it away.

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