Comments on: “I Wonder” Wednesday: Refusing Large Book Donations?

By: Acquisitions Librarian

Acquisitions Librarian — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:02:25 +0000

Gifts have been the bane of my existence. While the Library Administration is loathe to have us decline gifts, especially from retiring faculty members – they are constantly asking us to “give up things we don’t need to do anymore.” As an interim measure, our selectors “vet the gift.” we always ask if they have a list we can select from. In my 37+ year experience, I have found that very few of the people who give us book donations are actually the ones who give MONEY to the libraries. So we waste a lot of staff resources helping people dispose of their unwanted trash. Until our Library Development staff have to physically handle these materials – we’ll be pressured to accept them. Just my 2 cents worth – not the opinion of my employer!

By: Academic librarian

Academic librarian — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:32:47 +0000

In my experience at a large academic library, large gifts are typically more useful than random small donations. We have added large chunks of material that have expanded the diversity and balance of our collection (for example, a large donation of important African-American scholarly titles). The man-hours required to handle a large donation is worth it if you’re significantly improving the collection. However, very large gifts must be considered *in advance* for quality and usefulness–and you should politely refuse them if the books are garbage. Don’t allow people to think of the library as a dumping ground for their unwanted materials–even “political” VIP’s.

By: Randy McDevitt-Parks

Randy McDevitt-Parks — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:29:53 +0000

I’m assuming my experience is typical. As collection development librarian for an urban library serving a population of 420,000 and with multiple branches, I find that we’re probably keeping less than 1% of donations. Disposal then becomes an issue. Donors are always well-intentioned but generally are blind to the condition and relevancy of the items they’re donating.