When the Healdsburg Regional Library branch closed for remodeling in August 2024, one of the key services that went missing was a place to donate books. Specifically, a place to leave them, knowing they’d be well taken care of and might lead to some revenue for the Friends of the Library (FoHL), as book sales were held several times a year.
Fear not, bibliophiles: the FoHL has announced the next book sale will be “just before the Ides of March 2026, but we need to get enough donations to make this feasible,” said Board President Tracy Logan.
“With the closure of the library for the remodel and the move back into the new digs, we were not able to take donations for quite some months,” Logan said. Thus the regular annual sales plans were “upended.”
Since September, however, book donations have again been gratefully accepted every Friday, from 11:30am to 2pm, in the Library Lobby between the two entryway doors. FoHL volunteers screen the donations to meet certain conditions, such as being in LIKE-NEW or GOOD condition, without highlighted or underlined text, missing pages, or damage by smoke or must.
Some books—such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, spiral-bound books, Reader’s Digest condensed versions and Time/Life or Great Books titles—just can’t be accepted. While VHS, cassettes and 8-track tapes are no longer welcome, CDs and DVDs are still accepted, and now puzzles with all their pieces can be donated as well.
A full list of criteria can be found on the FoHL website at: sonomalibrary.org/visit/locations/healdsburg/friends.
In the near-term, Sonoma County Library branches are all closed on Thanksgiving Day and the following day, Nov. 27-28. Therefore no donations will be accepted.
“We are collecting book donations just for FoHL,” Logan said. “Each branch has their own Friends group with similar fundraising approaches.” Which means that for the most part, what’s donated in Healdsburg, stays in Healdsburg.
The Healdsburg Regional Library is located at 139 Piper St, open daily.
