Library Now Accepting Book Donations by Appointment

We know many of you out there have been "tidying up" during COVID. If you've been patiently waiting for the Library to announce that you can finally do something with those boxes or bags full of books you've been holding on to, we have good news. We are now once again officially accepting book donations! At this time, book donations are only being accepted by appointment. To arrange an appointment to donate books, please call the Library at 304-232-0244 and ask to speak to Nannette Troyan or send an email with the subject line "Book Donations" to [email protected]. 

Please note that though the Ohio County Public Library appreciates the generosity and thoughtfulness of its many patrons in donating books and other library materials to the Library, because of the overwhelming number of items donated, the limited amount of staff time to handle these donations, and limited space to house the donated materials, we must restrict the types of donations that are accepted.  Please review the below lists of acceptable and unacceptable donations before arranging an appointment to donate books or click here to read our full Materials Donation Policy.

Acceptable Donations:

• Hardback and paperback books published within the last ten years and in good condition.
• Gently used CD audiobooks and music, DVDs, and VHS tapes.
• Magazines on crafts, cooking, history, West Virginia, gardening, children’s magazines, and all issues of Life, Look, and Saturday Evening Post.

Unacceptable Donations include:

• Encyclopedias
• Textbooks
• Workbooks or manuals
• Educational or Reference book sets
• Reader’s Digest condensed books
• Discarded books and other library materials from other libraries
• Vinyl records
• Books on Tape (cassettes)
• Music Cassettes
• Software
• Puzzles
• Games
• Magazines not listed above as acceptable
• Items in poor physical condition, for example, broken spine, moldy, water damaged, mildewed, missing or yellowed pages, etc.
• No artifacts such as artwork, equipment of any kind including computer, furniture, etc. These items can only be accepted with the Director’s approval and under very special circumstances. 

Wheeling History Materials

In addition to taking book donations, the Library is also now once again accepting donations of historical materials related to the history of Wheeling or the Upper Ohio Valley region by appointment. The Ohio County Public Library Archives and Special Collections Department collects and preserves unique primary source material that documents the history of Wheeling and the Upper Ohio Valley region. Archival material includes photographs, scrapbooks, personal and corporate archives, journals, letters, maps, prints, pamphlets, brochures, and advertising ephemera. The library is committed to making these materials available to researchers, educators, and the general public through collection guides, digitization, exhibits, and other outreach activities.

Do have Wheeling/Ohio County historical materials you would like to donate to the Ohio County Public Library Archives?

If you would like to make an appointment to donate historical materials to the Library, call us at 304-232-0244 and ask for the Archives Department or send an email with the subject line "Archives Donation" to [email protected].