Schedule a Free Book Pick Up

We need Kids Books to give away!
Help our mission and our brick and mortar local bookstores!
All donations are tax deductible!
We accept all books in good condition!

Interested in a FREE Pick Up? Fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!

Note: For the health and safety of our team and you, we will not enter private residences. Please be able to put your books outside, at a loading dock, or in the foyer of your building.
There is currently a wait time of approximately 3 weeks, depending on which neighborhood you are requesting. We’ll try to get to you as soon as possible!
Pick Up Area: Our pick up radius is within the City of Chicago and near suburbs bound by the Tollway (294). See the map below for more details. We will make exceptions for larger collections, get in touch!

How To Package Books

Pack your books into cardboard boxes or plastic bins no larger than 12″x12″x16″. We accept books in paper bags with handles, but we DO NOT accept books in garbage bags.

Schedule a FREE Pick Up!

Name*
First Last
Email*
Enter Email Confirm Email
Phone*
Can we text you about the pick up?*
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Address Field*
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code
How many boxes or bags of books?*
Where will the boxes be located? Please add any parking/retrieval information for our drivers here.*
What type of books are these (fiction, cookbooks, bestsellers, anthropology & archaeology, etc.)?*
Upload a representative photo of your donation.
Max. file size: 50 MB.
Try to show book titles and condition. If you have multiple photos you may email [email protected]
Are these books from a Book Drive you organized?*
- Yes
- No
How did you hear about donating books to Open Books?*
Would you like to be on our mailing list?*
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- Already on it (and love Open Books!)

The Power of Donated Books

Each year, generous readers donate hundreds of thousands of books to support literacy. We sell those books in our stores and online to help fund our programs, and use and give them away in our literacy and book grant programs. Our book department produces zero waste, and we give away 2.5 books for every 3 we sell.

What do we take?

We welcome any sellable book in good condition. This includes fiction, nonfiction, craft books, cookbooks, children’s books, and more! We also accept LPs in good playable condition. Since we give away so many children’s books, we are always in need of more high quality titles.

What don’t we take?

There are certain types of books that simply have seen their time come and go and, unfortunately, no longer possess the capability to help us achieve our mission, such as encyclopedias, older textbooks, magazines, VHS tapes or books on cassette.

Donations from schools: We cannot accept library discards, including those from k-12 libraries. We do not accept elementary textbooks, or curriculum materials.

Please email [email protected] if you have questions about donating adult books from libraries.

Tax Deductible: We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit, so all donations are fully tax deductible. Looking for a receipt for your donation, click here.

Want to host a book drive for Open Books? Here’s everything you need to know: The Book Drive Guide

Publishers, Stores, or other Partnership Book Donations? Please contact Ryan Jackson, Managing Director, [email protected] to get the ball rolling.

Want to Buy New Kids Books for Our Programs? Check out our Gift of Books offering for purchasing new books for Book Grants and North Lawndale Reads.

Other Ways to Donate Books

See map at the bottom of page to find the location nearest you!

West Loop
651 W Lake, Chicago, IL 60661 Available during store hours (M-Sa, 9am-7pm; Sun, noon-6pm). No more than four boxes per donation at this location, please.

645 W Couch Pl., Chicago, IL 60661 24/7 Drop box off of Desplaines between Randolph and Lake St., behind our West Loop store

Logan Square

2068 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60647 Available 7 days/week, 9am-5pm at the front door of our coming soon store.

Pilsen
905 W. 19th St., Chicago, IL 60608 Drop slot in front of building available 24 hours a day. Larger donations accepted during store hours, 7 days a week, 10am-4pm.

Lakeview

The Nettlehorst Schoool, 3252 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago, IL 60657 24/7 Drop Box on the southwest corner of Broadway and Aldine.

River North
802 W. Superior, Chicago, IL 60642 24/7 Drop box on the southwest corner of Halsted and Superior.

Skokie
Westfield Old Orchard Mall, 4999 Old Orchard Shopping Center, Skokie, IL 60077 Directly across from Niles North High School closest to I-94 Highway/Shell Gas Station on Lawler Ave. Call the Westfield call center for direction help: 847-673-6800.

Active Book Drive Locations

Lilstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, IL 60640
Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S Dusable Lk Shr Dr., Chicago, IL 60637
Brown Brothers Tattoo, 904 N California Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
The Bike Lane, 2130 N View Page Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60647
Archie’s Iowa Rockwell Tavern, 2600 W Iowa St., Chicago, IL 60622
Chicago History Museum, 1601 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614