Material Donations

We heartily welcome book donations as they provide us with most of the revenue we need to perform our mission.

Your donations may be dropped off at any Friends Bookstore during regular hours. If distance makes that inconvenient, donations can also be left at the Ottawa Public Library branch nearest you. (It just takes a bit longer to sort them and get them on the shelf that way).

We accept the following types of donations providing they are in good condition:

• Children’s books
• Young-adult fiction
• Graphic novels
• All forms of fiction and non-fiction including: travel literature (not more than five-years old), history, sports, humour, hobbies, poetry, cookbooks, dictionaries, parenting, self help, thesauri and coffee table books.
• Audio-visual material (music, audio books and movies) that is complete and undamaged.
• Magazines that are in excellent condition and appear to be of technical or historical value

We respectfully decline:

• Trade magazines, fashion magazines, women’s and men’s magazines, etc.
• Books more than 10-years old, except for classics and children’s books
• All books that are not intact or that contain yellowed pages, smells or mildew (NB mildew spreads!)
• Encyclopedias
• National Geographic

If you have a donation you are not sure about, please contact us or donate it anyway, as some sorting out is always necessary before putting items up for sale.

Your donations of good books make a huge difference in your community and beyond, click here to find out what FOPLA does with your donations.

Monetary Donations

Don’t have any old books but want to help your library?

Although the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association (FOPLA) accepts funds for memberships, all other monetary donations should be made to the Ottawa Public Library Foundation. Monetary donations made to the Foundation are tax deductable.

FOPLA and the Foundation work together to enhance and strengthen the Ottawa Public Library, your donation to either organization will make a difference in the lives of those in your community and beyond.

Please contact us or the Foundation for more information.