The effort involved in this one can vary wildly.
If you are an online reader, you may not have much tidying to do at all. If you have been grabbing books for many years, you may want to set this as a timer challenge over a few weeks.
The Friends of the Library is a great place to donate old books. As the comment below suggests, you will need to check about magazines. Our library will accept quality magazines, like National Geographic.
Keep a few in your car, watch for Little Free Libraries, and add some when you find one.
Check with aging care facilities and hospitals, too. If you choose to give magazines instead of recycling, be sure to remove your name and mailing address. Check with any art teachers you know, as sourcing materials for art is always difficult. Do not just dump a load of magazines without asking.
Finally, you can always ask in a group like Facebook or Nextdoor, but, for me, it would depend on the level of drama that had been happening in the recent past. While someone may take them for a hobby, there is a non-zero chance of frustration and annoyance.
If you find that you are a magazine hoarder and always have more magazines than time, let’s start putting a solution to the problem into place. Look at the magazines you have not gotten around to reading and cancel the subscriptions.
You don’t need another physical reminder of how much time you don’t spend on the things you want.
If you are saving magazines because they contain a recipe you want to keep, take a picture and save it to a private board on Pinterest or in your phone’s camera roll —Look, Ma, no copyright infringement!
Have a great week.
Please, your local library does not want your old magazines, particularly National Geo. Magazines, even in libraries, are almost all read online anymore and libraries can not sell them. Recycle them or toss them, depending on the disposal rules of your area if that is what you were planning on doing with them.
And most libraries (academic and public alike) will have a copy of their donations policy on their site, or available for anyone to look at on request, which might be useful before you start hauling books down for donation.
– a long time librarian and library board member
I think it may be dependent on the local library. Mine has a box specifically for this purpose with a sign that specifically states books and magazines.