Donations Policy
Purpose
To clarify between and set guidelines for the two types of donations received by Library Services Division.
Type A - Gifts from institutions and people, usually monographs and serials that arrive unsolicited in the mail or are left at the loans desk (and are sometimes received through the after hours chute).
Type B - Gifts from institutions and people, usually arising from the Cultural Gifts Program. These may include current publications, but usually comprise older material.
Policy
Type A - general gifts
Gifts from institutions and people, usually monographs and serials that arrive unsolicited in the mail or are left at the loans desk (and are sometimes received through the after hours chute).
Unsigned unsolicited donations will be kept or discarded at the library's discretion.
- These donations are dealt with on a day-to-day basis by the Collection Development Coordinator (or in their absence, the Acquisitions Supervisor).
- Donations with an accompanying letter are acknowledged. To minimise the number of unsolicited donations, staff are to ensure that wherever possible, donors of items are given or sent the Offer of Donation form, which is to be signed and retained by the Collection Development Coordinator or Acquisitions Supervisor.
- The Collections Development Coordinator or Acquisitions Supervisor in conjunction with a Reference Librarian assesses donations using the 'Guidelines for assessing donations' that are part of this policy.
For donations that are to be included in the library collection:
- For monograph titles where we know the donor, a code is entered into
the items general notes on the Holdings record on Dynix, and
'donation' is entered. (This is to provide a record of who donated the
Item). - A record of codes and acknowledgments to be electronically stored
in separate Resources Management library services folders. - In the case of serial titles, donor information is entered on the relevant
copy record.
Type B - Cultural Gifts Program
The purpose of this program is to encourage gifts of significant cultural items to libraries.
- Gifts falling into this category are normally large collections. A staff member checks titles to determine whether or not they are already held.
- These donations are acknowledged.
- The Collection Development Coordinator or Acquisitions Supervisor in conjunction with Reference Librarians assesses donations using the 'guidelines for assessing donations' that are part of this policy.
For donations that are to be included in the library collection:
- Monograph titles where we know the donor, a code is entered into the items' copy record on Dynix; and 'donation' is entered.
- A record of all codes to be electronically stored in a Resources Management Library Services 'folder' by the Collection Development Coordinator (or in their absence, the Acquisitions Supervisor).
- With serials, donor information is entered on the relevant copy record.
