GET INVOLVED

News and events

Get free books, browse the stacks, or lend a hand

• Open stacks days. Send an email to Donna@booksinhand.org for the address. (El Sobrante, near San Pablo Dam Road at Castro Ranch.) First 20 books are free! Then every $5 donation gets you another 20 books. (Go to the Shelves page to see what is currently available.)
  • Sunday, Oct 18 from 10a – 1p
  • Wednesday, Oct 21 from 4p – dark (about 6:30p)
  • Saturday Oct 24 from 1p – 4p
• Ongoing by appointment. Send an email if you want to make a private appointment to browse the stacks. Minimum 20 – 40 book ($5 donation) requested for private appointments.
• Volunteers. We are still working on a formal volunteer program. If there is a particular way you want to help, let us know.
• Teachers, schools, libraries. If you are an educator or literacy-focused nonprofit, we have a small amount of funds available to distribute. We prefer to give gift certificates to brick-and-mortar stores (support local!), but other modes of assistance can be offered as well.

IT SEEMS SIMPLE

Get books off the shelves, keep them out of landfills, and get them to people

Books in Hand has a simple goal — to promote literacy by getting books into the hands of the folks who want them. We do that by:

• Accepting book donations, sorting, and re-gifting to the community
• Providing books for other literacy organizations, Little Free Libraries, senior centers, etc.
• Giving money and gift certificates to schools, teachers, and other nonprofits
• Supporting local bookstores, resellers, and individuals in their efforts to keep books out of the landfills by getting them to end users

OUR IMPACT

Recent progress

• July – Sept 2026: Gave gift cards to Pegasus and Moe’s bookstores, totaling $2370 to: Prisoners Literature Project, West County Reads, Riverside Elementary, Fairmont Elementary, Sheldon Elementary, Caliber Beta Academy, Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School, Laurel Elementary
• Accepted 6741 books in as donations from July – September.
• Generated $1969.33 of profit from book sales in September. (That’s after paying off all the bills.) We have money to give away!