Our office wants to donate books to a school in the old city. Iqra Mission High School came up

Ask them for a list before collecting anything. We did a drive for a school near Bandlaguda through my office, and what people donated was mostly adult novels and old guides. The school had asked for new notebooks and storybooks in Urdu and Telugu, which nobody had thought about. We ended up buying those with the money we'd set aside for transport.

Call the school office and ask. Parents on a forum won't know their donation policy.

Falaknuma side is not far from us. A practical point: getting cartons delivered in those lanes is hard in the mornings, so fix a time with the school and come in a smaller vehicle. And go once yourself before the drive, have a chai with whoever handles it. It makes the rest easier.

Our daughters' school ran a similar drive last year, and the partner school asked for one thing in particular: no logos or company names on the items. Worth checking with them whether branding is acceptable before anyone prints stickers.

I'd question whether a book drive is what helps most. In my experience schools often have books. What they lack is someone to run a library period. If your office has volunteers, offering time every month might be worth more than cartons.