Give old books
a new story!
Book Rescue collects used books and matches them to the right home. Donated books are sorted and delivered directly to organizations that will get them to people who need them.
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General donation centers and large thrift store chains often end up discarding books they can't sell — which means well-intentioned donations still wind up in recycling bins or landfills. Smaller, more focused organizations are selective about what they accept, but most people don’t have time to donate their books all over town.
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Book Rescue brings us all together in one place. People feel good letting their books go knowing they’re actually going to a person, not a bin.
Binding glue, page coatings, and heavy ink can interfere with the recycling process. Hardcovers can contain cloth, plastic, laminated board, and other mixed materials not suited to standard recycling. Large amounts of books in curbside recycling bins can cause recycling facilities to reject entire loads — which then get sent to landfills anyway.
Why not just recycle books?
@bookrescueproject
Successful Launch
of Glendale Book Rescue
The Book Rescue Project made its public debut at the Glendale Earth Day Fair at Verdugo Park. After securing a booth from the Glendale Office of Sustainability, Felix got to work publicizing, getting the community engaged, and building support.
We were thrilled to partner with Access Books, Re-Book It, Children's Book Recycling Center, and L.A. County Books for Jails.
What started as a small stream of neighbors' books arriving in Felix's garage grew into more than 1,080 items and 40 overflowing boxes. Glendale Book Rescue diverted nearly 1,000 pounds of books and media from landfills—items that will now be put to good use and enjoyed.
Earth Day Fair 2026
Glendale Book Rescue
Participating Organizations
Free community service provided by The Last Bookstore, one of the last remaining independent booksellers in Los Angeles. Provides used books for local libraries, charities, hospitals, schools, and victims of the 2025 L.A. fires.
Provides new and gently used, high-interest K-5 and Young Adult books to underserved school libraries.
Community service provided by L.A. children's bookstore Children's Book World. Provides used new and gently used books to literacy programs and organizations serving toddlers and young children in low-income communities throughout Southern California.
Keeps books out of landfills and gives them a second life while improving literacy and providing learning/reading materials for those incarcerated in Los Angeles County Jails.
Felix Fey
Felix is a high school junior and the founder of the Book Rescue Project, an initiative he created after recognizing three connected needs—people often have used books to give away, local libraries frequently can't accept them because they already have excess books of their own, and many literacy-focused organizations in his area need donated books. Seeing an opportunity to connect all three, he developed the Book Rescue Project to keep books in circulation and out of landfills.
Whether working as a Restoration Volunteer Supervisor for TreePeople, volunteering with Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy and the Glendale Trails and Open Space program, or serving as a Student Commissioner on the Glendale Sustainability Commission, Felix works to get other young people involved in projects that make a meaningful difference.
After a successful debut in his hometown at the Glendale Earth Day Fair, he hopes to inspire student-led Book Rescues in cities across America.
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