I have been going through my memorabilia. And I have A LOT OF IT. When I came across my yearbooks, I wondered what to do with them. What condition should they be in to donate them? Today, I am going to share with you what I found. I hope this post gives you options on what to do with your old yearbooks.
Jump to:
- What condition should the yearbooks be in before donating them?
- 8 Things You Can Do with Your Old Yearbooks
- Bring the Old yearbooks back to your high school.
- Sell the Old Yearbooks
- Donate the Old Yearbooks to your local library or Ancestry.
- Give to the Historical Society
- Give to a Classmate
- Donate to Your Alumni Association
- Make a DIY Craft project with some of the old yearbooks.
- Scan some old yearbook pages to keep them digital.
- If you are looking for other places to donate things, check out our other posts below.
What condition should the yearbooks be in before donating them?
The old yearbooks should be in well-maintained condition. No ripped pages. The pages should not be written on. No personal information should be written inside or outside the yearbook to protect your privacy. The spine of the yearbook should be in good condition, as well as no issue with the cover.
8 Things You Can Do with Your Old Yearbooks
Now that you have examined the yearbooks, let's discuss what you can do with them to pass them on to others who would use and enjoy them.
Bring the Old yearbooks back to your high school.
The first option is for those who live near their high school. Contact them and see if they want a copy. Some school libraries may have a few that are getting a little shabby.
Sell the Old Yearbooks
Places like HalfPriceBooks.com will buy yearbooks on their website. Visit their site to get more information.
Donate the Old Yearbooks to your local library or Ancestry.
Some local libraries will accept yearbooks. Find one in your community by visiting World Cat to find a local library nearby.
You can also donate your yearbooks at Ancestry. Yearbook submission forms and donations should be mailed to this address:
Ancestry Yearbooks Submission
1300 W. Traverse Parkway
Lehi, UT 84043
Ancestry accepts donations of yearbooks through 1999 only. Read more information on Ancestry website.
Give to the Historical Society
Give them to the Historical Society in the area. Visit the Preservation Directory to find one near you.
Give to a Classmate
There may be someone who didn't get a yearbook when they were in school with you. Just give them your copy.
Donate to Your Alumni Association
Some high school and college alumni associations may want to keep yearbook copies each year for reunions. This way, people who attend the reunions can check out who is attending and what they looked like when they went to school together.
Make a DIY Craft project with some of the old yearbooks.
Create a scrapbook (Affiliate Link) page or frame a few of the pages. If two pages you want to keep are back-to-back, photocopy one of the pages.
2024 Update: You can also create a collage by cutting out the individual people you knew and loved, adding them to a 12 x 12-inch paper, and then framing it to hang in your home.
Scan some old yearbook pages to keep them digital.
If you want to keep some of the pages, scan them or use an app like Google PhotoScan and store them on a digital external drive in a folder. You can label (Affiliate Link) the folder "19___ Yearbook for _______name of person". Also, describing the page you scanned will help others understand the image. Share some of the pages with classmates online and in your school's group.
I hope these options give you some idea of what to do with your old yearbooks. Feel free to share it with others to help them reduce the stuff in their memorabilia.
If you are looking for other places to donate things, check out our other posts below.
Charitable Locations to Donate Stuff page
PLACES TO DONATE JEWELRY YOU DO NOT WANT
HOW TO GET RID OF HOUSEHOLD ELECTRONICS
Recycling locations and shredder events in the Eastern Pennsylvania area page
15 CHARITABLE LOCATIONS WITH A CAUSE
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Janet Schiesl says
Great ideas. I'm going to save this post for reference.
It was customary to have your classmates write inside your yearbook when I was in high school so I don't know if anyone would want mine. I don't even want mine.
Linda Samuels says
This is so interesting and so many excellent ideas!
It never occurred to me to get rid of my yearbooks. Mine wouldn't be donation-worthy because like Julie's they are written in. Plus in high school, I was Art Editor my senior year and on on the yearbook art committee the other years. I want to keep them from that standpoint too.
The other thing they are great for is when or if you go to reunions. Before the last one I went to (10+ years ago), I looked through my yearbooks to remember names, faces, and experiences shared. Of course, most people don't look like they did in HS, but it was useful getting a crash course in history. 🙂
Julie Bestry says
Intriguing to know there are so many options. It would never occur to me to get rid of a yearbook, but if I did, none of mine could be used in the matter described as every inch of white space around the photos (in my four high school yearbooks) is covered with inscriptions from friends and teachers. (My college yearbook is different, as we got it at the end of the year, but it's a fancy leather doohickey, and is basically a history book.)
I had 250 people in my own class, and friends ahead of and behind me, so there's hardly an inch of free space in any of the yearbooks, making it useless to anyone else even if I were willing to give up those personal messages. It never occurred to me that inscribing yearbooks on the photo pages wasn't universal, though, so I will bear these tips in mind for clients who have un-grafitti-ed yearbooks.
Jana Arevalo says
These are great ideas! I have all of my old yearbooks, but as my Dad gets older I have often wondered what I would do with his at some point. It would be fun to revisit his old high school to see if they would like a copy. Thank you so much for sharing all of these ideas!
Jonda Beattie says
I never kept my yearbook as I was not fond of High School, but I have seen them at client's homes. We have had some luck donating some to arts schools.
Lucy Kelly says
Yearbooks weren't a thing at my high school in the U.K. decades ago, so I winced at the price when my kids went through high school here. But I've been surprised how often they've looked at them, and I'm sure they'll be revisited over the years by them. I hope when they're done with them, they'll put a call out through social media/alumni groups in FB, and if nobody wants them, they'd throw them out. I never see year books on the shelves at any thrift store I donate to, so I assume they either get snapped up or, more likely, they get thrown out as unsaleable.
Seana Turner says
I think I'll hold onto my yearbooks, at least for now. I have to say, I think most (if not all) of them have inscriptions along the inside covers. This was a "thing" we did, and often were given time after receiving the books during the day to go and get signatures. It was way more fun than going to class. So I'm guessing mine would not be candidates for donation anyway.
Very interesting topic, Sabrina!
Sabrina Quairoli says
I know! The generations after ours were not given the time to get people to sign their yearbooks so they do not have as much of a connection to them as we do.
Diane N Quintana says
All terrific ideas, Sabrina. These are such timely ideas also. I recently came across a stack of old yearbooks at a client's house. I will share your ideas with him and hope one or more resonates.
Janet Barclay says
I could never part with my yearbooks!
Sabrina Quairoli says
I get it. Not all the yearbooks in my home will be donated either.