San Diego Media Preservation: Give Your Books, Vinyl, and Film a Second Life
My Living Archive is a San Diego media preservation society that collects the physical media your shelves have outgrown — books, vinyl records, DVDs and Blu-ray discs, and compact discs — and routes it to libraries, schools, bookshops, and community spaces across the county. Every donation keeps San Diego's stories in circulation instead of a landfill.
Why physical media still matters in San Diego
Streaming and e-books are convenient, but they erase the object of culture — the dog-eared paperback passed between neighbors, the jazz record a parent played on Sunday morning, the documentary a teacher screened for a class. Physical media anchors local memory. When you donate, you give those objects a second act: a child's first library card, a collector's long-missing pressing, a high-school reading list made richer by your bookshelf. Preserving the physical object preserves the story that came with it, and keeps San Diego's cultural record in the hands of the people who live here.
What we accept
We accept four categories of donated media in San Diego: Books (novels, nonfiction, art and music monographs, and children's titles), Vinyl Records (LPs and 45s across jazz, soul, rock, and Latin pressings), DVDs & Blu-ray (films, documentaries, and concert recordings), and Compact Discs (albums, compilations, and audiobooks). We gently decline encyclopedias, magazines, and damaged media we can't ethically re-home.
Where your donations go
Donated media is matched to local partners by format and condition — circulating libraries, independent bookshops, school reading rooms, and volunteer-run record exchanges — so each item lands where it will be used and loved again.
Partner directory updates as new organizations join the network.
How to donate in San Diego
Request a free pickup anywhere in San Diego County, or coordinate a private drop-off in the South Park neighborhood. Confirm your donation and we follow up within 24 hours with next steps and a confirmation email.
Start a donationShip your media to us from anywhere in the country
You don't have to live in San Diego to contribute to the archive. If your shelves have outgrown their space and you'd rather your books, records, discs, or films reach a community that will use them, you can box them up and ship them our way.
1 · Submit a mail-in donation
Use the donation form and pick "Mail-In" as your delivery method. Tell us what you're sending and roughly how much.
2 · I'll reach out personally
Once your request is in, I'll contact you directly with our private mailing address and packing tips — we never publish it publicly.
3 · Ship and we handle the rest
Send your box and we take it from there — logging the arrival, photographing the items, and routing each one to a local partner.
Why the address stays private.I share the mailing address only after we've spoken, so every shipment is expected and matched to a real need. It also protects our small volunteer space from unsolicited drop-offs.