How to Prepare Books for a Donation Pickup (Simple 5-Minute Guide)
To prepare books for a donation pickup, put them in any sturdy boxes or bags in one accessible spot near your door, driveway, or garage. That's it. There's nothing else you need to do — Last Mile Books handles the rest. Below is a full 5-minute checklist so nothing gets forgotten on pickup day.
The 5-minute pre-pickup checklist
- Pull the books together in one place. Anywhere near a door works — a porch, a garage, a driveway, or a room just inside the front door.
- Box or bag them. Any sturdy container works. Standard moving boxes, banker's boxes, or even large sturdy shopping bags. Aim for 25–30 pounds per box so they're liftable.
- Take out anything personal. Bookmarks, photos, letters, handwritten notes — flip through and pull them out if you don't want them to leave your house.
- Set aside anything you're not sure about. Signed books, family heirlooms, first editions, or anything that might be valuable — put those in a separate pile and tell us on pickup day so we can look at them with extra care.
- Text or email us if the plan changes. If your pickup window needs to shift or you found another box after we agreed on a count, just let us know at or haylee@lastmilebooks.com.
Things you don't need to worry about
- Sorting the books. We sort every book by hand after pickup. Just put them all in boxes.
- Cleaning the books. Unless they're actively moldy, don't bother.
- Labeling boxes. Not needed. We'll figure out what's in them.
- Being home. If you leave the boxes out somewhere we can reach, we can complete a contact-free pickup.
- Getting a receipt in advance. We provide a written pickup confirmation on the spot.
What we can't take (so leave these out)
- Moldy, water-damaged, or musty books
- Books with missing covers or major structural damage
- Encyclopedia sets (too heavy for their limited resale value)
- Magazines, newspapers, or old catalogs
- Non-book media like VHS tapes, cassettes, or CDs
If you're not sure about a specific book or type, just leave it in the pile. We'll sort it and take what we can.
On pickup day
If you'll be home, we'll knock or ring the bell. If you're not home, we'll load the boxes from wherever you told us they'd be — porch, driveway, garage. Either way, you get a text or email confirming the pickup is complete.
Ready to schedule?
Schedule a free pickup. We cover Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Palm Springs, and surrounding Riverside County.
Free book donation pickup — Riverside County
Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Palm Springs, and more.
Schedule a pickup