What is Library Mail, and can a reseller use it instead of Media Mail?

USPS's rules: Only with an institution

Library Mail costs less than Media Mail, $4.17 instead of $4.39 for 1 lb, but every piece must name a school, college, university, public library, museum, herbarium or qualifying nonprofit in the delivery or return address. Books qualify only between two such institutions, between one and an individual with no financial interest in the sale, or from a publisher to an institution that ordered them, so a reseller selling a book to a library doesn't fit. A shorter list, including sound recordings and 16 mm or narrower films, qualifies whenever it's sent to or from one of those institutions.

Rates verified on Oct 19, 2026

The rule, in the words of USPS and its regulator

Quoted from the official pages linked below each quote, checked Oct 19, 2026.

“Each piece must show in the address or return address the name of a school, college, university, public library, museum, or herbarium or the name of a nonprofit”

Domestic Mail Manual 173.5.1 · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility

“any such institution, organization, or association and an individual who has no financial interest in the sale, promotion, or distribution of the materials”

Domestic Mail Manual 173.5.2 · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility

“The following specific items may be mailed at the Library Mail price when sent to or from schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, museums, and herbariums”

Domestic Mail Manual 173.5.3 · USPS Domestic Mail Manual 173: Media Mail and Library Mail prices and eligibility

“A public library typically is one which is supported by public funds and whose services are freely available to everyone.”

USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-022 · USPS Customer Support Ruling PS-022: Libraries (updated June 2014)

“The following items may be mailed as Library Mail when sent to or from schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, museums, and herbariums”

Mail Classification Schedule 1425.1 · Postal Regulatory Commission: Mail Classification Schedule (through July 12, 2026), 1425 Media Mail/Library Mail

What it costs to ship

Media Mail costs the same to every US address, with a 1 lb minimum ($4.39) and any fraction of a pound rounded up. Ground Advantage, USPS's ground package service with tracking included, is priced by weight and zone: online is USPS's commercial price for labels bought online, and the counter price is retail.

USD, weight not over. USPS Notice 123 effective Oct 4, 2026; Ground Advantage includes USPS's temporary holiday prices, in effect until 12 a.m. CT Jan 17, 2027 (Media Mail isn't affected). Library Mail: same Notice 123. Selling platforms and label services can have their own rates.
Package	Media Mail	Library Mail	Ground Advantage online, Zones 1-9	Ground Advantage at the counter, Zones 1-9
1 lb	$4.39	$4.17	$8.01 to $11.22	$10.05 to $13.65
2 lb	$5.13	$4.87	$8.39 to $13.42	$11.30 to $19.80
5 lb	$7.34	$6.97	$10.35 to $20.24	$13.75 to $27.45

Worked examples

Library Mail saves $0.22 at 1 lb, $0.26 at 2 lb and $0.37 at 5 lb against Media Mail.
A 2 lb order of CDs shipped to a public library, on the rules' wording: sound recordings are on both Library Mail lists. The "between" list needs a qualifying pair, which a reseller isn't (DMM 173.5.2), but the "to or from" list needs only that the piece go to or from a library (DMM 173.5.3), and neither list says the other one controls. So it pays $4.87 instead of $5.13, saving $0.26. USPS has no ruling on sales by resellers, and the Postal Regulatory Commission's Mail Classification Schedule repeats the same two lists (MCS 1425.1).
A 5 lb box of used books you sold to a school library: you're not an institution, an individual without a financial interest or the publisher, so Media Mail, $7.34.

Every weight from 1 to 70 lb: Media Mail rates · Ground Advantage rates

Edge cases

School, college and university libraries count when their reference materials are available to the public, even if on site only (PS-022).
Thermometers, barometers and anemometers sent to or from qualifying institutions go at Library Mail prices as scientific instruments (PS-112), but a notice at the top of that page warns that metallic mercury and devices containing it, including antique thermometers and barometers, are always prohibited in the mail.
Library Mail needs its own marking, "Library Mail", in the postage area or on the label (DMM 175.1.3).

What to do

Selling recordings or films to a library, school or museum: check the Library Mail list in DMM 173.5.3 before buying the label, and weigh the saving ($0.26 at 2 lb) against relying on wording USPS hasn't ruled on.
Everything else from a reseller goes by Media Mail.

Can you send magazines by Media Mail?
Not on USPS's list. The Media Mail list names books, not magazines, and an issue with ads fails the book standard. Ship them First-Class Mail or Ground Advantage.
Can film reels, slides or negatives go by Media Mail?
16 mm or narrower prints. 8 mm, Super 8 and 16 mm positive prints ready for viewing qualify; 35 mm film, negatives and slides aren't on the Media Mail list.
Can you ship vinyl records, CDs, cassettes and DVDs by Media Mail?
Yes. Sound recordings qualify, and USPS classifies video recordings as sound recordings, so records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, Blu-rays and VHS all go.
Do you have to take Media Mail to the Post Office counter?
With stamps over 10 oz, yes. Pieces paid only with stamps that weigh over 10 oz or are over 1/2 in. thick must go over the counter. The DMM also allows meter and PC Postage labels.

All 25 Media Mail questions · Cheapest way to ship books

Sources

Rates verified on Oct 19, 2026 from each official page below.

Free 1-page Reseller Cheat Sheet: fees on 8 platforms, Media Mail and stamp prices

What each platform takes from a $10, $25 and $50 sale, Media Mail 1-10 lb, Ground Advantage to Zones 1, 5 and 8, and the Forever stamp, on one printable page. The link appears as soon as you sign up.