Donations for Milton Keynes Libraries

Do you have unwanted gifts that need a home or books that you have read and no longer need? Milton Keynes Libraries appreciate donated books and magazines. Or perhaps you would like to show support with a cash donation.
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Online Donations

If you love your library and would like to show support, please consider a donation.

MAKE A DONATION

Donations are used to enhance services and buy items to support the work of our nine libraries, the Mobile Library and local communities across Milton Keynes.

Every contribution makes a huge difference - for example, £5 buys art supplies for children's workshops; £10 buys 2 books; £20 buys a bestseller eBook; £50 buys a new Reading Group book set.

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Donating Books

Our general policy for book donations is set out below. However, during the Covid-19 disruption, book donations can be dropped off at any of the libraries (except Central Library) by using the drop boxes during the Click and Collect hours or by using the letterboxes at Bletchley, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford or Woburn Sands Libraries. We are seeking donations of any books in good condition and published in 2020/21.

We have recently started publishing our Top Ten Wishlists for book donations each week.

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Recent Top Ten Wishlists

18 January 2021

  1. War Lord - Bernard Cornwell
  2. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
  3. Home Stretch - Graham Norton
  4. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
  5. How to Listen - Katie Colombus
  6. Speak Your Truth - Fearne Cotton
  7. A Promised Land - Barack Obama
  8. This Wonderful Think - Adam Baron
  9. Diagnosis Danger - Roopa Rarooki
  10. The Ghost Garden - Emma Carroll

4 January 2021

  1. Trio - William Boyd
  2. Piece of My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
  3. Mr Wilder and Me - Jonathan Coe
  4. Love Your Life - Sophie Kinsella
  5. The Meaning of Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey
  6. A Del of a Life: Lessons I've Learnt - David Jason
  7. Wake Up: Why the Liberal War on Free Speech is Even More Dangerous than Covid 19 - Piers Morgan
  8. The Great Godden - Meg Rosoff
  9. Willow Wildthing and the Dragon's Egg - Gill Lewis
  10. Five Little Liars - Amanda Morgan

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28 December 2020

  1. The Searcher - Tana French
  2. The Killings of Kingfisher Hill - Sophie Hannah
  3. Reality and Other Stories - John Lanchester
  4. To Hold Up the Sky - Cixin Liu
  5. Nala#s World - Dean Nicholson
  6. Diary of an MP's Wife: Inside and Outside Power - Sasha Swire
  7. Once Upon a Tyne: Our Story Celebrating 30 Years Together on Telly - Anthony David McPartlin
  8. Cookie and the Most Annoying Girl in the World - Konnie Huq
  9. More Than Just a Pretty Face - Syed Masood
  10. Wranglestone - Darren Charlton

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21 December 2020:

  1. The Sicilian Method - Andrea Camilleri
  2. Postscript Murders - Elly Griffiths
  3. How to Raise and Elephant - Alexander McCall Smith
  4. Summerwater - Sarah Moss
  5. Failosophy - Elsabeth Day
  6. Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey
  7. My Life in Black and White: My Autobiography - Arsene Wenger
  8. The Tower of Nero - Rick Riordan
  9. The Invisible Boy - Alysa Hollingsworth
  10. Jungle Drop - Abi Elphinstone

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14 December 2020:

  1. Seven Lies - Elizabeth Kay
  2. Christmas for Beginners - Carole Matthews
  3. A Song for the Dark Times - Ian Rankin
  4. The Devil and the Dark Water - Stuart Turton
  5. Limitless - Tim Peake
  6. Life's What You Make It - Phillip Schofield
  7. Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day - Jay Shetty
  8. The Voyage of the Sparrow Hawk - Natasha Farrant
  9. The Puffin Keeper - Michael Morpurgo
  10. Mrs Noah's Pockets - Jackie Morris

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Buying New Books

Some people have asked if they can buy us new books from the wishlist - we'd be happy to receive donations this way.

If you'd like to send a book to us directly from a bookseller, please use this as the delivery address: Central Milton Keynes Library, 555 Silbury Boulevard, Central Milton Keynes MK9 3HL.

If you mark your purchase as a 'gift' you will be able to include a message and we would like to know your name (and library card number if you have one) so we will know who has made the donation.

We are also happy to receive any recently published books, even if they are not listed.

Thank you for considering making a donation.

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General Book Donation Policy

Donations can only be accepted at Milton Keynes Central Library.

As our libraries have limited shelf space, a few restrictions are necessary:

  • Books should be less than 3 years old and in nearly new condition
  • Encyclopaedias cannot be accepted
  • Magazines should be less than 4 months old
  • We cannot guarantee that an item will stay at a particular location
  • We cannot guarantee that donated items will be put into stock as they are subject to the same editing guidelines as existing library stock
  • Any donations not used for stock will be sold and the profits used for library income generation
  • We are unable to inform donors of the usage patterns of items added to stock
  • Offers of bulk donations should be referred to a senior member of library staff
  • We cannot return unwanted donations to the donor

Letters of acknowledgement are not sent out as staff thank the member of the public at the time of donation.

Thank you.

Unwanted Books

The Betterworld Books website provides some useful options for donating unwanted books. 

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Last Updated: 19 January 2021