Ways to Donate to the Library

There are many ways you can donate to and help the library:
 

BOOK DONATIONS

Please DO NOT leave donated books in the book drop box or in bags or boxes outside the library. Such materials will be disposed of. 

We have guidelines to follow given our limited space so that we aren't overwhelmed with books or materials we cannot use. 

When we receive book donations, we usually receive several boxes that people have cleaned out of their garage, basement, attic, etc. Most often, these books are decates old and dirty, dusty and moldy. While we appreciate the thought, these donations create a lot of extra work for volunteers and staff. The books must be gone through one by one to check for condition. If they are dirty, moldy, very yellowed pages, writing in the book, we cannot keep the book. We also look at copyright date. If the book is over 5 years old, generally we will not keep it. There are a few exceptions to this, such as if it is considered a classic book. We also look at the condition of the cover and spine. If the book looks old, we cannot use it. If the spine is broken, the book needs to be discarded. We also cannot take encyclopedias, any book with dated material such as Farmers Almanac, computer books, text books and so forth. Anything where the information changes frequently, we are unable to accept. 

Once donations have been reviewed to check for condition, we then have to check those remaining against our collection inventory to see if we already have them. This also takes a considerable amount of staff time. If the book is in good condition, and we don't have it in our library and we feel it would get read by our patrons, we will then take necessary steps to process it into our collection.  

Unfortunately, a large percentage of books or materials that are donated get recycled. 

We will gladly accept newer hardcover books that are within a year or two of publication if we don't already have the book in the collection. 
 

MONETARY DONATIONS

Smaller libraries have smaller operating budgets and thus we will greatly appreciate any monetary donations. It doesn't have to be a lot as every dollar counts! 
We use donations to purchase supplies for the library, new books, and/or pay for items related to programs offered through the library. If you would like to make a 
monetary donation to the library, you can mail a check to: 

Sergeant Bluff Public Library
Attn: Library Director
503 4th Street
Sergeant Bluff, IA 51054
 

SUPPLY DONATIONS

Another very easy way you can donate to the library is to help with direct purchase of supplies we use every day, such as: 

  • Reams of printer paper
  • Address labels that we use to label our books (Avery 5160 is the specific label we use)
  • AVERY 2" x 3.5" Business Cards, Sure Feed Technology, for Laser Printers, 250 Cards (5371), 
    • We print our own library cards using these cards along with other uses, so we go through a lot!
  • Ink or Gel Pens
  • Scotch Tape Rolls for Tape dispensers
  • Red Paper Folders for our "1000 Books Before Kindergarten" patron packets 
  • We also have an Amazon Wish List that patrons or supporters can order directly from and the items will be shipped directly to the library: