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Fairfax County is giving unwanted books another chapter through a new reuse and recycling pilot that could generate money for local recycling services while keeping more waste out of landfills.
Residents can place unwanted books in a green collection bin at the I-66 Transfer Station, located at 4618 West Ox Road near Fair Lakes. New Legacy Books, a New Jersey company, will collect the donations and either resell, redistribute or recycle them.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services will receive 15% of proceeds from books sold through the program, spokesperson Sharon North said. That money will support residential recycling services.
The bin accepts hardcover books, paperbacks and textbooks, but each item must have an ISBN barcode. Books that are too damaged to sell will be recycled.
The department said the program provides residents with a practical way to reduce waste while advancing the county’s goal of diverting 90% of its overall waste stream from disposal.
The initiative follows a similar Fairfax County Public Library partnership with online bookseller ThriftBooks that began in May 2025. ThriftBooks resells eligible books and shares some proceeds with the library system, while recycling the remaining materials at no cost to the county.
That arrangement has improved the county’s finances because the library previously paid to recycle books removed from its collections, according to Technical Operations Division Director Dustin Booher. Books may be withdrawn because of their condition, outdated or inaccurate information, or low demand.
During the first six months of the planned two-year pilot, from May through November 2025, the library sent more than 100,000 books to ThriftBooks. More than 20,000 were deemed suitable for reuse and resale.
Library spokesperson Sara Prohaska said the partnership returned more than $20,000 to the library, which used the money to purchase collection materials. The program also diverted 81 cubic yards of waste from landfills and was credited with saving 421,073 gallons of water, 1,444 trees and 246,629 kilowatts of electricity.
The additional revenue is meaningful for a library system that receives $3 million in county funding for collection materials.
Residents can also donate books, DVDs and other media to Friends of the Library groups, which hold sales at local branches. Those volunteer organizations help finance special programs, Summer Reading Adventure entertainment, books, furniture, technology and scholarships for community members and library staff.
During fiscal 2025, Friends groups contributed more than $369,660 and provided 37,297 hours of support to the library system, Prohaska said.
The book collection effort comes shortly after Fairfax County expanded its textile recycling program for clothing and other fabrics. Bins operated by Helpsy are located beside the new book bin at the I-66 Transfer Station and at the I-95 Landfill Complex, 9850 Furnace Road in Lorton.