Sadly, we have to put a moratorium on book donations until further notice, except for books on our most needed books list or our Amazon Wish List.

The United First Parish Church and Quincy Center are going through some growing pains. The space in front of the church is being renovated into the long-awaited “Adams Green.” The church is also installing an elevator, upgrading its electrical system and creating a handicapped-accessible bathroom.

So what does that have to do with book donations? Better World Books picks up books we can’t use, but their large trucks can’t park anywhere near the church because of the Adams Green construction. Even if they could, the stairway closest to the door with the wheelchair ramp that is easiest for BWB to use, has been torn down to make room for the elevator. And even if we could get the boxes upstairs, we have extremely limited storage space to keep them until they are picked up because the electrical work is being done in the space where we store them.

While all of these problems have converged to create somewhat of a “book crisis” this summer, we feel it is a small price to pay. We look forward to finally being able to welcome volunteers who are not able to navigate the stairs to our space. With an elevator and an accessible bathroom, people of all abilities will be able to volunteer. The book room will still be somewhat hard to navigate for wheelchairs but the dining room where we do much of our work will be accessible.

Here are some options for those who need to find a new home for their books before we can accept them again:

• More Than Words Bookstore, Waltham and the South End: a nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
• Boomerangs Thrift Shop, Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, South End and Central Square: a thrift store benefiting the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, who support people affected by AIDS and HIV
• Great Falls Books Thru Bars, Franklin County, Western MA: a relatively new books to prisoners program that is also the one geographically closest to us.
• Your local public library: Most libraries hold book sales and use the proceeds to support library programming and events. Support yours!