Donate Books Near North Valley, Albuquerque
Free book pickup across the North Valley, scheduled by route — the 24/7 drop box is right here at Edith & Montaño.
The North Valley is home base — my warehouse and 24/7 drop box sit at Edith and Montaño. I pick up across Griegos, Los Duranes, North 4th Street, Los Ranchos, Alameda and the farm parcels between 2nd Street and Rio Grande Blvd, where bigger lots tend to mean bigger libraries.
Schedule a free North Valley pickup, or drive five minutes and use the box.
Free In-Home Book Pickup Across the North Valley
The North Valley is my home turf — my warehouse sits at 5445 Edith Blvd NE (Edith and Montano), so North Valley is about as close to home base as a pickup gets. Pickups here are scheduled by route like every other stop. The Valley runs from I-40 north to Alameda, west across 2nd Street, 4th Street, and 12th Street to Rio Grande Blvd, and east to Edith. Housing here is a mix of 1930s–1950s adobe cottages, mid-century ranches on half-acre and full-acre lots, and a handful of the larger Los Ranchos-border horse properties. Lot sizes run larger than the rest of the metro, which means larger basements, larger garages, and noticeably larger accumulated book collections.
Sub-areas served across the North Valley
I schedule pickups throughout the Near North Valley (Griegos, Montano corridor, 4th Street), Los Griegos, Los Duranes, North 4th Street / Northtown, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Alameda, Taylor Ranch-adjacent parcels east of Coors, and the working-farm parcels between 2nd and Rio Grande. If you're in the acequia belt between the freeway and the bosque, I've probably already done a pickup on your block.
What pickups typically look like here
North Valley pickups are the most varied in the metro — one day it's a farming family clearing three generations of agricultural reference and regional history, the next day it's a long-time Los Ranchos artist's estate with a 2,000-volume art-and-photography library. Because housing here tends to be held across generations, the collections tend to be older: pre-1990 hardcovers with dust jackets intact, Southwestern regional presses, UNM Press runs, bosque and Rio Grande ecology, equestrian and agricultural manuals, and the New Mexico mystery/historical fiction canon. The other recurring pattern is large-format photography and art books — the Valley has always had a disproportionate share of the city's working artists.
How a North Valley pickup works
- Text or call 505-250-3804, or use the online form — tell me what you have, plus your address and where the boxes are on the property.
- I schedule it by route — the Valley is minutes from the warehouse, so it rides along with most runs.
- I load everything — no sorting, no boxing.
Horse properties, long driveways, barns and big garages are routine here — tell me where the boxes are and I’ll load from there.
The 24/7 Drop Box Is in the North Valley
You’re already close: the drop box is at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, near Edith & Montaño — about 5 minutes from most of the Valley. Books in any condition, plus DVDs, CDs and other media, go in the box — here’s everything I take.
What’s on North Valley Shelves
North Valley shelves are where I most reliably turn up John Nichols’s New Mexico Trilogy (The Milagro Beanfield War, The Magic Journey, The Nirvana Blues) and Edward Abbey — acequia readers and land-grant history readers tend to hold both. I also see heavy runs of Rudolfo Anaya (Anaya lived in the Valley / Corrales region), a steady trickle of Quinto Sol Press imprints from bilingual-education households that taught through the 1970s–1990s, and Jimmy Santiago Baca in the acequia-adjacent households along 4th Street and Rio Grande Blvd (the Rio Grande spine that Baca's Martín & Meditations on the South Valley follows runs the length of the Valley). UNM Press regional hardcovers — Southwest Studies, New Mexico history, acequia ethnography — are universal on Valley academic shelves, and Pat Mora surfaces in bilingual-education households that taught the Borderlands canon.
Bookworks (4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW) stamps are everywhere on Valley shelves — it has been the neighborhood’s bookstore since 1984. Valley donations also feed the La Vida Llena loads.
Questions from North Valley Donors
Do you pick up books in the North Valley and Los Ranchos?
Yes. The North Valley is home base, including Los Ranchos and Alameda. Pickups are free, any condition, and scheduled by route — text 505-250-3804.
Where is the drop box from the North Valley?
About 5 minutes away at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, near Edith and Montaño. It’s open 24/7 and takes books in any condition.
Clearing a North Valley House or Studio?
Tell me roughly how many boxes and where they are, and your North Valley pickup goes on the route.
Schedule a free North Valley pickup →