Item Donations

Book and Media Donations

Donate books and other media items at the BookWorks Donation Warehouse at 1901 Bell Ave, Des Moines, 50315. 

Book Donation Hours are every Saturday from 9am to 2pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm unless noted below

Book Donations are CLOSED on the following dates in 2026

  • April 4th & 5th – Easter Holiday
  • May 23rd & 24th – Sale Weekend
  • July 4th & 5th – Fourth of July Holiday
  • September 5th & 6th – Labor Day Holiday
  • October 3rd & 4th – Sale Weekend
  • November 28th & 29th  – Thanksgiving Holiday
  • December 19th – 27th  – End of Year Holiday


Can’t make it over the weekends? Please email info@iowasbiggestbooksale.org to set up an appointment to drop off donations. Currently, we do not offer 24 hour donation drop offs, please ensure you set up an appointment with us.

What items are accepted for donation? 

PLEASE NOTE – The following lists are reflective of the current needs of Iowa’s Biggest Book Sale and are subject to change.

Currently, Iowa’s Biggest Book Sale is accepting the following items in good condition:

  1. Art books and both framed and unframed artwork
  2. Cookbooks and all Saveur magazines
  3. Only these cooking magazines from the last 2 years: Cook’s Illustrated, Cuisine, Eating Well, Food and Wine, Forks Over Knives, Milk Street, Pioneer Woman
  4. Vintage and collectable books
  5. Hardback fiction books with dust jackets 
  6. Trade and small fiction paperbacks
  7. Only SELECT Reader’s Digest editions – see below for editions not accepted
  8. Travel guides, books, and maps
  9. Nonfiction books on any topic
  10. Children’s and young adult books
  11. Alcoholics Anonymous books from any year
  12. Textbooks
  13. Unused puzzle, sudoku, and word search books
  14. Comic books
  15. Graphic novels
  16. DVD and Blu-ray movies and TV series in the original boxes – NO VHS tapes
  17. Vinyl records/LPs in the original jackets
  18. CDs in the original cases
  19. Laserdiscs in the original jackets
  20. CD audiobooks (no cassette tapes)
  21. Puzzles and board games in the original boxes
  22. Video games (Disc-type games must be in the original boxes)
  23. Video Game Consoles in working condition
  24. Sheet music

 

What items are not accepted for donation?

Currently, Iowa’s Biggest Book Sale can not accept the following items

  1. Magazines of any kind except for those noted above (no weekly, monthly, news, financial, men’s or women’s magazines
  2. National Geographic magazines
  3. Library copies of fiction or fiction without dust jackets
  4. Encyclopedia sets
  5. Law book sets
  6. Time/Life sets
  7. All Reader’s Digest editions EXCEPT for Select editions
  8. Newspapers
  9. VHS tapes
  10. Cassette tapes
  11. 8-track tapes

Join us in building a stronger community, one book at a time. We collect gently used books and sell them at affordable prices. All proceeds support our community, providing vital resources to individuals and families in need. Your support helps us empower lives through literacy and opportunity.

  • 2026
EIN: 99-3025801
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Contact Us

M :

PO Box 13169 Des Moines IA, 50310

M :

info@iowasbiggestbooksale.org