Donating books to the Library

We appreciate the generosity of our readers who in the past have offered us their books. However, the sheer quantity of this material makes it difficult for us to process it to go on the shelves.

We would like to continue to receive books and other material:

of local interest that fall within the scope of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea local studies collections
of novels with a local theme or setting
on subjects relating to London and to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in particular
by local authors
Materials that fall within our specialist collections of biography, costume, fashion and folklore

We reserve the right to dispose of material that we do not wish to add to library stock.

We regret that we cannot accept material outside these categories.

We purchase our stock from specialist library suppliers who supply the stock ready to go on the shelf with jackets, date labels and catalogue records.

When we receive donations this involves the staff in extra work getting the items ready for the shelves, and putting the items on the catalogue. We have moved towards putting a bigger proportion of our staff on counters and enquiry desks to be able to give you a more personal service and answer your queries more efficiently.

For the material we cannot accept, we suggest you offer them to charity shops such as Oxfam. In the case of more valuable items, it may be worth selling via AbeBooks.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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