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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, as reflected in the Library Collection Development Policy and the policies of designated special collections. All gifts to the Libraries are made with the understanding that The University Libraries receives and accepts them on behalf of the Friends of the University Library or as the Friends of Association of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) and reserves the right to determine disposition of such gifts.
The gift process consists of five distinct stages: initial acceptance, acknowledgement, selection by subject bibliographers, storage, and processing by the Acquisitions and Cataloging departments or disposal.
The Libraries’ Collection Management Department accepts gifts and has subject bibliographers review them for possible addition to the collections. Gifts to be added to the collections are sent to the Acquisitions Department just as purchases are. The collection may be referred to other libraries. Processing of the gift back file occurs when time permits in the technical services departments.
The Collection Management Department receives and screens calls determining the appropriateness of the proposed gift. When it seems advisable, the appropriate subject bibliographer or 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 subject bibliographers or collection specialists for final decision. In general, we do not transport gift materials to the library due to staffing limitations and ownership of a vehicle for such purposes. 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. The 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 should direct the donor to his or her tax advisor. Donors with substantial gifts should be referred to the Collection Management Department to make sure that all necessary documentation and forms are handled properly.
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 Collection Management 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.
Prospective donors should be discouraged by all who work in the library from giving the following types of gift material to the Libraries because most likely they will not be selected for addition to the collections.
Rare books and other special collection material represent a special circumstance. If materials involve local history or if they are for example 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) and for consultation with the appropriate subject librarian.
The Libraries reserve the right to refuse any gifts on which the donor has placed restrictions, such as requiring that a collection of books be kept apart from the remainder of the library collection and housed in a special area or part of the stacks out of their normal classification sequence. Of course, collections of rare books, autographed first editions and other similar items are a different matter -- the donor should be referred to the appropriate bibliographer or collection specialist and the Head of Collection Management. The Associate Dean of Libraries, The Dean, or his designee is the final authority on whether to accept a gift with restrictions.
If a gift is of substantial monetary value, the Libraries may request that the donor execute a Deed of Gift Form which is a legally recognized document effectively transferring title of the item(s) in question from the donor to the Libraries.
Material given as gifts to the Libraries will be reviewed for possible selection for the collections by the appropriate subject bibliographer(s). The criteria for selection shall be the same as for materials that are to be purchased and based largely on the relationship of the gift material to the University’s instruction, research, and service programs. Donors should be aware that instances of adding volumes that duplicate existing collection holdings occur only when the apparent usage warrants the action.
Because of pressures on the Libraries staffing, most gifts must be temporarily stored until the Acquisitions and Cataloging Departments can process them. Therefore, the Libraries should make no commitments as to the amount of time taken to process gifts, unless directed by the Dean of Libraries, the Associate Dean, or his designee.
The Libraries reserve the right to dispose of gift material that is found to be inappropriate for the collections or not needed in accordance with existing disposal process.
Once accepted, the Associate Dean’s Office or designated collection specialist is responsible for acknowledging, in writing, every gift in a timely fashion. In line with IRS regulations, the acknowledgement will indicate whether the donor received any tangible goods and services for the gift from the Libraries. The requirement to acknowledge all gifts does not apply when gifts arrive without information on who donated the material (such as materials left at circulation desks) or materials distributed by organizations or publishers (unless acknowledgment is requested). Gift materials accepted by persons other than Collection Management Department staff will be transferred to the Acquisitions Department for processing.
The Acquisitions Department will provide a number and type of format report for gifts and notify the Associate Dean’s Office so the gifts can be acknowledged.
The Associate Dean’s Office or designated collection specialist 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 or if the donor wants to determine the value of the gift that information will be added to the acknowledgment copy and be sent in a timely manner.
The Acquisitions Department, will organize gift materials so that individual subject bibliographers may review the materials for possible addition to the collection. The criteria for selection of gifts are provided below. Selection decisions are recorded on a Gift Slip/Selection Form accompanying each item being reviewed. A Rush, Notify, or Priority slip should accompany materials that need to be cataloged in a timely fashion. Items with Rush or Notify slips will be sent to the Circulation Department in either Bierce Library or the Science Library for notification of the requestor. Items with Priority slips will be sent to the shelf in the appropriate library.
Gifts should be evaluated on the same bases as purchased materials. Free materials may not affect the collection development budget but still require the cost of cataloging, processing, and housing the materials. Therefore, gifts must meet the collection development profile of the library, as determined by the subject bibliographer. Factors to be used in evaluating gifts include the following:
Occasionally, subject bibliographers will receive single issues of periodicals that for lack of more definitive information have a gift slip included. These should first be checked to make sure that they are not issues that should be checked in that have slipped through the mail processing. The remnant should be considered sample issues, unless successive issues are received, and thus should not be selected as gifts. Even when we have received less than two years of a title without paying for them, the subject bibliographer should evaluate the title’s value in light of the collection development policy.
The Acquisitions Department is responsible for managing the unprocessed gift backlog. Once searched online by Acquisitions, the gifts will be displayed in the Acquisitions Department for selection. Selected gifts on the designated shelving will be taken to the Cataloging Department. Those that are not designated as priority will be shelved in the cataloging gift backlog.
The Acquisitions Department is responsible for processing gifts based on the preferences indicated by bibliographers on the Gift Selection forms.
When time is available, newly received gifts will be checked in The UA Libraries Catalog to determine if the Libraries already own the item or if it is on order. Gifts will remain on display in Acquisitions for two weeks for the bibliographers to review. Items marked for addition to the Libraries’ collection will have a brief record created for them in The UA Libraries Catalog by Acquisitions before they are sent to Cataloging. If an item has not been marked for addition to the Libraries’ collection, it is discarded or referred to other libraries.
Gifts with Rush and/or Notify slips are cataloged with the highest priority. Gifts with Priority slips are cataloged with a priority similar to newly purchased items. Other gift volumes go into a backlog from which items are cataloged upon patron request or on a time available basis.