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The University Libraries welcomes and appreciates receiving gifts of materials or monetary funds. (See Monetary Gift Procedure appended to this general policy) Rare books, scholarly works, or works on out-of-the way or little known topics are often a good fit for the library. New books and replacements for items missing from our shelves are also welcomed. Donated items will be added to the collection when they are consistent with the teaching and research needs of the University. All gifts to University Libraries are made with the understanding that UL reserves the right to determine disposition of such gifts.
The gift process consists of five distinct stages: initial acceptance, acknowledgement, selection, storage, and processing (by the Acquisitions and Cataloging departments) or disposal.
The Technical Services Department accepts gifts and reviews them for possible addition to the collections. Gifts to be added to the collections are sent to the Acquisitions Department. Processing of gifts occur when staff time permits.
The Technical Services Department receives and screens gift inquiries to determine the appropriateness of a proposed gift. The Collections Librarian or appropriate collection specialist can decide whether to make a personal visit to the donor to review the gift material. These gifts will always be delegated to the Collections Librarian or collection specialist for final decision. Due to staffing limitations, we do not transport gift materials to the library on behalf of patrons. Once gifts enter the processing workflow, the library can no longer accommodate an appraisal. Arrangements for appraisals for tax deductions need to be made by the donor prior to delivery of the materials to the library. The library does not do appraisals and does not make lists of materials received for the donor.
Appraisals of a gift to the Libraries for tax deduction purposes are the responsibility of the donor. University Libraries, as a donee, is disqualified from appraising donations. If a gift is valued at greater than $5,000 and the donor wishes to deduct the gift for tax purposes, the donor must have the collection appraised by a certified appraiser, fill out IRS Form 8283, and send a copy to The University of Akron Libraries, Head of Collection Management, 315 Buchtel Common, Akron, Ohio 44325-1707.
If a donor mentions verification for a tax deduction, library staff will direct the donor to their tax advisor. To ensure that all necessary documentation is provided and processed properly, donors with substantial gifts should be referred to the Technical Services Department.
The IRS requires that gifts in excess of $500 be documented by a Form 8283. This form has a place for an independent appraiser to determine the value of the gift and for the University (through the Technical Services Department) to indicate receipt of the gift. In signing the form, the University agrees to notify the IRS if the gift is disposed of for a value less than the appraisal within two years of the donation.
All gifts should receive an acknowledgment from the Libraries which describes the gift and indicates if the donor received any tangible goods or services for the gift.
The following types of materials will likely not be selected for addition to the collections:
Rare books and other special collection material may represent a special circumstance. If materials involve local history or if are heavily annotated by the donor -- with the donor being of significant interest to the area and the Archives -- the potential donor should be referred to the University Archives or to AHAP. Otherwise, all rare books and other special collection materials should be referred to the Associate Dean of Libraries to handle legal arrangements (if any).
University Libraries reserve the right to refuse any gifts on which the donor has placed restrictions. This includes requiring that a gift be kept apart from the library collection or housed in a special area out of their normal classification sequence. For collections of rare books, autographed first editions and other similar items, the donor should be referred to the Collections Librarian or collections specialist. The Associate Dean of Libraries, The Dean, or their designee have the authority to accept or deny a gift with restrictions.
If a gift is of substantial monetary value, University Libraries may request the donor to execute a Deed of Gift Form. This is a legal document formally recognizing the transfer of the item(s) from the donor to University Libraries.
Gift materials to University Libraries will be reviewed for possible selection by the Collections Librarian or collections specialist. The criteria for selection applies to all materials, and aims to support University’s instruction, research, and service programs. Adding materials that duplicate existing collection holdings occur only when their is heavy usage.
Due to limited library staff, most gifts must be temporarily stored until the Technical Services Department can process them. University Libraries cannot estimate a timeline to process a particular gift or gifts.
University Libraries reserve the right to dispose of gift material that is deselected for the collection. Deselected materials are placed on the library's free shelf, or recycled.
Once accepted, the Associate Dean’s Office or collection specialist is responsible for acknowledging, in writing, every gift in a timely fashion. Complying with IRS regulations, the acknowledgement will indicate any tangible goods and services received by the donor from University Libraries for the gift. When gifts arrive without context or without information on the donor (such as materials left at circulation desks) or if materials are distributed by organizations or publishers (unless acknowledgment is requested), the acknowledgement requirement does not apply. Gift materials accepted by individuals other than Technical Services Department staff will be transferred to them for processing.
The Associate Dean’s Office will provide the University’s Development Office with a copy of all non-monetary gift acknowledgments annually at a time determined in cooperation with the Development Office. If there is an appraisal associated with the gift, that information will be included in the acknowledgment copy.
The Technical Services Department will organize gift materials so that they may be reviewed for possible addition to the collection. While gift materials may be free, all materials have a cost to catalog, process, and store. Factors to be used in evaluating gifts include the following:
The Technical Services Department manages the unprocessed gift backlog, and gifts are stored in the Technical Services Department for selection. Selected gifts are sent to be cataloged. Due to limited staff and the amount of gift books received, the timeline for processing gift books (from selection to becoming available in the library catalog) can vary.
The Technical Services Department is responsible for processing gifts based on the teaching, research, and instructional needs of the university.
When time permits, newly received gifts are checked in the UL Catalog to determine if the Libraries already own the item. Gift books are also checked against materials available via OhioLINK, and items with 5 or more copies are less likely to be added. If an item has not been selected for addition to the collection, it is recycled, referred to other libraries, or discarded.
All selected gifts join a backlog from which items are cataloged on a time available basis.