Donations Policy

The library welcomes donations of collections or funds that allow it to achieve its mission. While donations may require no initial expense, they must be catalogued, processed and maintained. The following guidelines help library staff, in consultation with faculty members, to assess donations.

Donor Guidelines

• Donated materials are expected to meet the same standards of quality and relevance to the curriculum as newly purchased titles and should be in good physical condition.
• Donors are expected to provide accurate bibliographic lists and condition descriptions for materials being assessed before the library will pay for shipping or delivery.
• Material that bears the ownership marking of another library or institution and does not indicate removal from that collection will not be accepted.
• The library will not accept review copies that are marked "complimentary" by publishers.
• The library will not usually accept textbooks, abridgements, anthologies, readers, or other items that do not have lasting academic value.
• Gifts that may encumber the library either financially or administratively require approval of the Library Director before acceptance. Examples are gifts of books given under the condition that they be placed in the collection, gifts of art given on the condition that it be displayed in the library, or cash given to create a new library program. The library director reserves the right to decline any gift that interferes with the library's ability to fulfill its mission.
• The library reserves the right to decline donations based on the above.

Disposal of Unwanted Items

The Library reserves the right to dispose of donated materials that do not meet collection needs and policy guidelines. Gifts not retained may be offered to other libraries or campus departments, or sold in the library book sale.

Acknowledgment of Gifts

All donors will receive an acknowledgment letter from the institution with a tax receipt if applicable. Tax receipts will only be provided for items that are added to the library's collections, not for items disposed of by other means (booksale, subsequent donations, discarding). Tax receipts are mailed to donors in the month of February following the calendar year in which the donation was added to the collection. Staff members who manage donations will make every effort to respect the wishes of our donors and will consider other forms of acknowledgement (book plates, memorial plaques, etc.) when appropriate.

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