Giving books
Before you pack a box
Please send a list first. Titles and authors are enough, and photographs of the shelves will do if a list is too much. Write to books@adocentyn.us. We usually reply within two weeks to say what we can use.
What we are especially glad to see
- Runs of newsletters, zines, and small magazines, however modest.
- Small-press and self-published books and pamphlets.
- Copies with notes in the margins, when the notes are those of a serious reader.
- Scholarly editions and translations of primary texts.
- Books in languages other than English.
- Tarot and oracle decks with their booklets.
- Letters, minutes, and papers that record the life of a group.
What we cannot take
- Ritual tools, regalia, jewelry, and art.
- Anything damp, moldy, or infested.
- Unauthorized copies of works in copyright.
The reasons are given in our collection policy.
What happens next
Each book we accept is entered in the shelf list and given a small label naming the giver, or no name if you prefer. We keep no more than two copies of any edition. Further copies are passed on, with your knowledge, to other reading rooms and study groups. Nothing is sold. We cannot provide valuations of any kind.
Delivery
Bring books to the desk on any open day. If you have more than three boxes, please write first to books@adocentyn.us. Close to home we can sometimes collect.
Bequests and personal libraries
If you would like your library to come to us one day, the time to say so is now. We will talk through what would fit, what would not, and what you might do with the rest. Our essay Rescuing Personal Libraries explains why this matters and gives a checklist for planning.
If you are clearing a house and have found books of this kind, write to us before anything is thrown away. We will advise whether or not the books are likely to come to us.
Giving time
No experience is needed, only clean hands and patience.
- Cataloging days are held on the second Saturday of each month, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Volunteers describe new arrivals, write labels, and box fragile items. Soup is provided.
- Shelf reading means checking that every book is where the shelf list says it is. It can be done on any open day and is a fine way to learn the collection.
- The desk needs a second pair of hands on Saturdays.
- The repair workshop each spring teaches simple, reversible repairs under the eye of our conservator.
To begin, come along on a second Saturday or write to desk@adocentyn.us.
Other ways to help
- Take out a reader ticket.
- Tell your family that your books matter, and why.
- Tell us when we have something wrong.
- Tell someone else that we are here.
We do not ask for money through this website. There is a coffee tin on the desk.