Gifts

The LaChance Library encourages and welcomes donations of books and other suitable materials to the Library's collection. Gifts are evaluated in accordance with the already established criteria by which purchased materials are evaluated (see the Library Collection Development Manual). Not all gifts will be added to the collection. The donor has the option of retaining the materials if the Library staff determines that they are not suitable for the collection.

Criteria for Evaluating Gifts:

Gift materials will be evaluated by the same criteria as is used for purchased materials. Specific considerations may include some or all of the following:

• material is of a topic which falls within the scope of the collection
• material is in good or excellent condition
• material is timely and not out-of-date
• the Library does not already own duplicate material

Criteria for Formats Other Than Books:

Gift materials must be of such a nature that they can be integrated into the collections without requiring special facilities, control, or staffing. Gift materials requiring continuing obligations on the part of the library will not be accepted without serious consideration of the Library’s ability to keep the material up-to-date. The Library’s policy regarding the acceptance of gift periodicals (back issues of journals, whether long runs or scattered issues) is to decline the gift unless the issue or issues fill a gap in the collection. Gift subscriptions will be accepted provided the donor intends to continue the subscription.

Staff Members Who Accept Gifts:

If possible, a phone call to the Library Director or Cataloger would help to establish an appropriate time to bring donations to the Library. Donations to the Library may be presented to the staff at the Circulation Desk. The Library staff member shall present the donor with a “Gift Form” which should be completed at the time of donation.

Appraisal Policy:

The Library does not affix a dollar amount for donations accepted for inclusion in the collection. If requested, the patron may receive a statement from the Library enumerating the total number of books, paperbacks, or other items that the Library has deemed appropriate and acceptable to add to the collection. It is the responsibility of the donor to list the titles of the items, and affix a value if necessary.

Final Disposition of Materials Not Added to Collection:

Materials will be added to the collection if, once they are evaluated, it is believed that they will add value to the collection. The donor must be made aware (at the time of the donation) that items not added to the collection will be disposed of by sale, exchange donation, or discard. The donor may request that the items be returned to the donor if not added to the Library collection.

This page is maintained by the MWCC Library.
This page was last updated 12/21/06