What to Do With Old Textbooks: Donate Every Edition

By Josh Eldred · New Mexico Literacy Project · May 31, 2026 · Last verified October 2026

Donate them, all of them. A current edition goes straight to the next student taking the course, and a superseded edition still teaches exactly what it taught the day it was printed. Publishers retire editions on a schedule, not because calculus or anatomy changed, so an out-of-date textbook is still full of good, true information. That is why I am glad when textbooks come through my door, and why I take every one: this semester’s nursing text, a law casebook two editions back, the engineering hardcover with a used access code, the highlighted biology book from 2012. Here is how both halves work, and what to do with the stack.

Fastest way to clear them: the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, a covered box outside the gate, by the road, takes whatever fits, any hour, any condition. Too much for the box? Come 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., when someone is there to help unload, or get on a free pickup route. Directions.

Current edition or old edition: both are welcome

Textbook publishing runs on a deliberate cycle: publishers issue new editions frequently — for the big introductory courses, sometimes every year or two — with renumbered problems and shuffled chapters, so that a course can require the newest one. The science, math and history inside barely move between editions.

So the edition only decides where a donated book goes next, not whether I want it. A current edition goes back out to the next student taking the course, which makes this semester’s books some of the most welcome donations I get (nursing, law, engineering, business and computer science texts included). An older edition goes to a reader who needs the material and doesn’t need the newest printing. Either way, you don’t have to figure out which one you have.

Used access codes, highlighting, loose-leaf: none of it stops a donation

A few things people worry about before they donate a textbook, and why none of them matter here:

Why old textbooks are some of the best donations there are

Here is the reason I light up a little when a load includes textbooks. An out-of-date textbook is still true. Calculus did not change between editions. Neither did anatomy, or organic chemistry, or American history, or Spanish grammar. The publisher reshuffled the problems to force a new purchase, but the knowledge in that old edition is just as good as the day it was printed, and plenty of people who can’t pay for a current edition want exactly that.

Donated textbooks go back to readers. Some are resold to the next student who needs the course, and that resale is what funds the free pickup and the drop box. Readable copies that won’t resell go to community literacy partners and Little Free Libraries, and only books no one can use are recycled as paper. A box of “old” college textbooks that a buyback counter turns away is exactly the box I want, so please don’t recycle or trash superseded editions by default. Bring them in.

What to do, in order

1. Gather every textbook. Current editions and old ones, highlighted or written-in copies, books whose access code is used, loose-leaf binders, lab manuals and study guides. No need to sort them or look anything up; that’s my job. This semester’s nursing, law, engineering, business and computer science texts are especially welcome — see the full list of what I take.

2. Box them. Textbooks are heavy, so use small, sturdy boxes or bags — a banker’s box beats a wardrobe box.

3. Drop them off or book a pickup. Put them in the free 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE — covered, outside the gate near the road — or text 505-250-3804 for a free pickup anywhere in the Albuquerque metro, scheduled by route. From elsewhere in the US, mail them by USPS Media Mail, postage donor-paid. Here is how textbook donation works, with campus notes for UNM, CNM, and other campuses, plus teachers across New Mexico.

4. Let the sorting happen at the warehouse. Don’t recycle them yourself first. Each textbook is sorted by hand: current editions go to the next student taking the course, readable older editions go back to readers, and only a book so water-damaged, moldy or broken that no one could use it is recycled as paper, never landfilled.

Frequently asked questions

Related on this site

• What to do with old car repair manuals — aftermarket vs. factory, and why they make great donations.
• Donate Textbooks in Albuquerque — the full guide to giving textbooks a second life.
• Current-edition and program textbooks — nursing, law, engineering, accounting and computer science texts, all welcome as donations.
• What To Do With Old Encyclopedias — the honest answer for the reference set.
• What to Do With Reader's Digest Condensed Books — and the books nobody else takes.
• Free Book & Media Pickup — Albuquerque — schedule a pickup for the whole load.