Book Donation Guidelines

Please Limit Donations to 1 Box

What Makes a Good Donation

Please keep in mind this rule of thumb when deciding what to donate – “If you wouldn’t buy the book yourself, please don’t donate it.”

  • Cover in good condition
  • Pages are white – not yellowed or visibly aged
  • The book topic is current and has a big audience of potential readers

Donations We Do Not Accept

Please do not donate the items listed below. They don’t sell well and the Friends incur costs to recycle leftover materials. This decreases the money that the Friends can donate to the library for special programs.

  • Books that show signs of aging, heavy use, or mold or are water-damaged or missing pages
  • Books with pages marked up or highlighted
  • CDs, VHS, vinyl records, cassette tapes
  • Magazines or pamphlets
  • Encyclopedias and reference books such as dictionaries, thesaurus, and foreign language translations
  • Books on childcare, parenting, computers, business, finance, travel guides
  • Books on topics in the areas of cooking, gardening, home care, and decorating that are more than 10 years old
  • Textbooks
  • Games
  • All books on Faith/Religion including Bibles and devotionals

We Now Accept Jigsaw Puzzles!

To donate your puzzle, please place all pieces in a Ziploc bag (include a note regarding any missing pieces and approximate location of missing piece(s)) and then put the bag into the original box and rubber band the box to ensure all components remain together.

Book sale outside with Friends volunteers under a tent
Books for sale on a long table under a tent outside with people browsing
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Subject East Greenbush Card UHLS Card UHLS MyCard
Library Card Registration Free to any individual who resides or pays taxes in the East Greenbush Community Library taxing district or Town of Schodack. Cards expire and must be renewed every three years.

Free to any individual who volunteers or works at the EGRN Library. Cards expire and must be renewed yearly.

Free to partner educational agencies with verified employment. Cards expire and must be renewed yearly.

Those that live outside the UHLS area may purchase a temporary card at the price established by our Table of Fines and Fees. Cards expire and must be renewed yearly.

All ages eligible. Youth under age 16 must have their application completed and signed by a parent or guardian, who provides acceptable identification for them.

Card blocked at $5 or more in replacement costs or fines/fees

Fines vary according to individual library rules and UHLS resource sharing rules. The EGRN Table of Fines and Fees are applicable for items which are checked out from the East Greenbush Community Library

 Free to residents residing in a community served by a UHLS library.

All ages eligible. Youth under age 16 must have their application completed and signed by a parent or guardian, who provides acceptable identification for them.

UHLS library cards expire and must be renewed every three years.

Card blocked at $5 or more in replacement costs or fines/fees

Fines vary according to individual library rules and UHLS resource sharing rules. The EGRN Table of Fines and Fees are applicable for items which are checked out from the East Greenbush Community Library

 The UHLS MyCard is a fine-free, limited-access library card for youth. It is intended to address multiple barriers to serving youth and families, including:

  • Barriers to access related to fines (e.g. computer access, checking out materials)
  • Parents not present for a child’s library card registration
  • Previous fines on a child’s card

Free for youth residing in a community served by a UHLS library.Applicants 18 and under who are applying for a limited use, UHLS Youth Only MyCard, need to provide name, address, and date of birth.UHLS library cards expire and must be renewed every three years.Youth ages birth to 18 can register unaccompanied, or with the help of a caregiver or relative who is not the child’s parent/guardian.This card may be used at all UHLS Libraries except for the Colonie Town Library.

Card blocked at $10 or more in replacement costs.

No fines for late items
Limits on # of Materials Borrowed Unlimited checkouts Unlimited checkouts Limited total items: Can only have 3 items checked out on their card at a time
Types of Items All eligible item types. All eligible item types except Museum Passes, ILL, and Hot off the Press. Active paid members of the Friends of the East Greenbush Community Library have access to all lending collections. Only items eligible to be borrowed are books (any age level), juvenile and young adult (teen) audiobooks, and juvenile and young adult (teen) DVDs.
Databases/Digital Content EGRN and UHLS subscription databases and digital content UHLS subscription databases and digital content Only items eligible to be borrowed are books (any age level), juvenile and young adult (teen) audiobooks, and juvenile and young adult (teen) DVDs.
Interlibrary Loan Nationwide UHLS Libraries UHLS Libraries
Program Registration Unlimited except by limited program capacity Preference given to resident cardholders Preference given to resident cardholders