Book Swap Closures: We are closed 12/27 and Weather looks dicey for tomorrow 12/21 so we may delay our opening until 10am, then decide.
Greenwich Book Swap at Holly Hill => Directions
Learn more about us => Book Swap Brochure
Greenwich Book Swap - Donate your books here & Find your next read!
The Book Swap at the Holly Hill Recycling Center is open Friday and Saturday mornings for use by Greenwich residents from 8am - 12pm.
If you want to learn more about where your donated books go, please check out our recent activities on Facebook and Instagram
Greenwich residents are welcome to bring as many books as they want and can take 10 books a day. The 4,000 books in the shed are organized like a library into categories such as best selling authors, non-fiction, romance, mystery, classics and children's books. There are usually 100 - 200 oversized coffee table books and cookbooks in the outside bins. CDs, DVDs, and LPs are also available.
The Greenwich Book Shed receives up to 200,000 book donations a year. We see about 200 visitors a day who take away 400 - 500 books, averaging over 40,000 a year. Many regulars treat the shed as a lending library, and also take books for schools or elderly neighbors. Teachers often visit to fill their classroom libraries and grandparents love to get books for visiting children. Our recently expanded children’s section has been a big hit as well.
It is an all volunteer effort that was started by Doug Francefort who initiated the book recycling effort 43 years ago with a couple of folding tables. Over 25 years ago the town built the Book Shed and sorting facility, and now the Book Swap is a well loved spot for all ages. Many thanks to our current volunteers! Lorrie Stapleton, Rich Kane, Steve Boies, Jim Grout, Janet Mackenzie, Lynn Clarke, Bob Bishop, Sally Saunders, Kathy Vitti, Matt Szechtman, Matt Shapiro, Alexis Voulgaris, Angela O’Donnell, Michel Lacroix, Gerhard Peter & Myrna Marsh, John & Susanna Trudeau, and Deb & Ed Parker.
Appropriate books to donate
Books should be in good condition for us to be able to find them new homes locally. Encyclopedias, text books, self help, financial, or religious books can be placed in the blue Discover Books donation bins. This is a company that will try to resell them on line. Damaged or moldy books can go into regular recycling.
Books4Everyone
In 2015 we started a proactive effort called Books4Everyone.org, with the goal of finding a home for all the clean used books we couldn’t use from Greenwich donations. Since that time we have distributed over 250,000 books.
No one likes to part with their well-loved books, and we understand that. We try to tell our book donors where their books have gone so they can feel good about the fact that they have new homes. In many cases their books are significantly contributing to literacy programs in under-served schools and community centers throughout Fairfield County.
Through our website Books4Everyone.org, and our related Facebook and Instagram pages, we try to showcase both our book donors and the facilities that have received the books.
Greenwich Book Swap - Recent articles
We got some great press on our Covid reopening from Greenwich Free Press and Greenwich Time