Gift Policies & Procedures
These policies and procedures are intended to address donations of print, non-print and related gifts of both general and special nature. They do not address the specialized requirements of manuscripts and archives. Nor do they apply to cash donations received by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Manuscript Center must be consulted when dealing with manuscripts and rare documents.
Acquiring out of print material and facing what seems to be an inevitable rise in cost of library materials, libraries are finding ways to maintain a high level of service and efficiency at low cost. Active solicitation of gifts is one of the most cost-effective ways of acquiring materials for the library. Over the years, gifts have filled the need for widely read journals and books in libraries around the world. To achieve our goals as the primary source of information in this community, it is incumbent upon us to provide a clear set of procedures for processing gifts.
Donors of library material to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina come from all walks of life; however, most of our donors are Alexandrian residents, trustees, International Friends of the BA, university professors, as well as families of deceased authors and public figures. Some of the donations come from governments, institutions, or individuals based on the nature of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina as an international institution. We have also received gifts from casual visitors who admired the way we delivered services to them in the few times they used the library, as well as dignitaries from over one hundred countries.
Accepting or refusing a gift is a sensitive matter. If a person thinks that the items they have is worth depositing in this institution, it is important to explain how their gift fit or does not fit into our collection. It is also important not to alienate our friends, trustees, and donors.
Responsibility for Accepting Gifts
The Chief Librarian makes the decision to accept gifts for addition to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. When gifts are sizable or potentially rare or valuable, the Chief Librarian will notify the Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina for solicitation of monetary support to process the material acquired. Gifts of manuscripts or archival materials must be referred to the Director of Manuscript Museum & Manuscript Center.
Accepting Large Collections
Large gift collections can be accepted only after proper consultation has been made with the Library Director and the Chief Librarian. The library usually arranges for transportation, processing, as well as temporary and permanent housing. The subject specialist (bibliographer) also must arrange with the Technical Services Section to send materials for processing on a staggered basis after basic inventory and selection process have been completed. When appropriate, the Chief Librarian must advise potential donors of the possibility of delays in the processing of donated materials.
Potential donors must be advised that the library does not make a monetary appraisal of any donated materials. Librarians can suggest outside agencies that potential donors may contact for an appraisal. In addition, donors can be advised that many services exist on the Internet for non-academic books that may help them place a value on their donations. Librarians can provide current suggested sites and work with the donor as needed to guide him or her through the appraisal process.
Although the library does not provide appraisals of received gifts, an inventory of all gifts that are accepted for our collection must be made.
In most circumstances, donors are responsible for sending gifts to the library. In certain cases, if the donor is unable to deliver the material to the library, arrangements should be made in advance with the Chief Librarian to pick up the collection from the donor's home.
Donors are to be sent written acknowledgements in a timely fashion, unless they specifically request that no acknowledgement be made. Development of good donor relations requires that acknowledgements be made as soon as possible after a gift is received. A listing or count of the donation, the date the items were received, the condition of the material received will be kept on record in the Gifts & Exchange Unit. A copy of the donation record can be requested directly from the Gifts & Exchange Unit if needed by the donor.
Donors are offered the opportunity to place a Bookplate in the verso of the books they donated with wording of their choice. See attached samples.
Public acknowledgement of valuable gifts will be made through annual receptions, BA publications and the library's website.
The Deed of Gift is a document that conveys the gift material to the library without any encumbrances, including copyright or ownership issues. It spells out any terms or conditions of the gift and provides a clear title to the material. All gifts require a Deed of Gift.
The office of the Chief Librarian is responsible for issuing the Deed of Gift and keeping the master files on these gifts.
Disposition of Gift Materials
It is the responsibility of the Gifts & Exchange Unit Leader working with the donor to advise him or her that any material not added to the collection may be placed in the library book exchange lists to be shared with other libraries, or otherwise disposed of (as stated in the Deed of Gift). The library's position with all unsolicited gifts is not required to add all donated items to the collection, nor is in the position to return donations that are not selected by the subject specialists.
Gift items are often used to replace lost or missing volumes, as well as to enhance the collection with new titles. Gifts that duplicate items already in the collection should be compared with the items that are owned. If the donated copy is in better condition, it can be used to replace the library copy. If an item is not checked out and cannot be located on the shelf, it will be declared missing and the donated volume will be used as replacement copy.
Donated issues of serials are always compared with the serial runs on the shelf to ascertain that runs are complete and that volumes are not missing or damaged. Donated issues of serials will be used to fill collection gaps and to replace missing or deteriorated volumes. Serial issues not added to the collection may be offered to other institutions or otherwise disposed of.
Items that are in poor physical condition; off-prints of journal articles or book chapters; programs for conferences that list only dates, times, and speakers, but that do not include the papers presented; and other similar materials will not be added to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina collection and thus will not be accepted or will be discarded. Other materials that should receive careful consideration include outdated textbooks, mass-market paperbacks, and duplicate copies of items already owned by the library. Preservation, cataloging, and space issues must be taken into account.
Donated items that are not added to the collection may be made available to other local libraries through the exchange program. The Chief Librarian may also contract with an out-of-print dealer to sell unwanted items, with proceeds going into the collections budget.
Procedures for Handling Gift Items
These procedures are for the handling of gifts in kind (donated books, serial issues, etc.), and do not refer to gift/exchange, subscriptions, cash donations, and other ongoing programs.
Books
- The Gifts & Exchange Unit staff examines the gift books, removing all items that clearly should not be added to the collection, based on the library's Collection Development Policies and her or his judgment. These items are then placed in the holding area for the book sale or possible library exchange.
- The Collection Development Unit then separates and sorts the selected gift books by general subject material.
- The subject specialists/bibliographers search through subject areas sorting by specific subject, removing all items that should not be added to the collection, based on the library's Collection Development Policies and her or his expert opinion.
- The Material Processing Unit staff registers the selected gift books with bar codes, appends the security strip, and inputs them into the library inventory.
- The Catalogers search the selected gift books in the online catalog. Gift books that duplicate items already in the collection are to be flagged with Duplicate/Replacement Book forms; including title, call number, reason for replacement, date, and staff initials; and place them in a holding area for Stacks Management to pick up. Books not already in the collection are to be fitted with spine labels including call numbers and shelf status (available for circulation, non-circulated (NC), or closed stacks (CLOSTX)) and then placed in a holding area for Stacks Management.
- All books flagged with the Duplicate/Replacement Book forms are then physically compared with the items that are owned by the Stacks Management Unit. If the donated copy is in better or fair condition, it can be used to replace the library copy or placed in the closed stacks reserves. If an item is not checked out and cannot be located on the shelf, it will be declared missing and the donated volume will be used as a replacement copy. All other duplicate books not needed by the library go to the holding area for the exchange program.
- Books not already in the collection, that meet the Collections Development Policy, are to be placed by the Stacks Management Unit on the library shelves according to call number and shelf status.
Journal Issues
- The Gifts & Exchange Unit examines the gift journals, removing all titles that clearly should not be added to the collection, based on the Collection Development Policies and her or his judgment.
- The Cataloging Unit searches the selected donated issues in the online catalog. Selected journals already in our library collections are to be flagged with a Journal Fill-in form; including journal title, volume & issue number, date, and staff initials; and placed in a holding area for Stacks Management Unit to pick up.
- The Stacks Management Unit then compares the donated issues with the journal runs on the shelves to ascertain that the runs are complete and that volumes or individual issues are not missing or damaged. Where possible, donated issues of serials will be used to fill collection gaps and to replace missing or deteriorated volumes.
- Donated journal issues of titles not currently held by the library are to be placed in a holding area for the subject specialists and the Collections Development Unit to review.
- The subject specialists and Collection Development Unit will examine donated journal titles not currently held by the library to determine if they should be added to the collection, based on the Collection Development Policies, the extensiveness & completeness of the donated journal run and his or her judgment. Journal runs to be added to the collection are flagged with specialist, date, and an indication of cataloging priority, and placed in a holding area for Technical Services to pick up.
- Journal issues not added to the collection may be offered to other institutions or exchanged, as appropriate, placed in the book sale, or otherwise disposed of.
Selected gift items should be processed as if they were new material, i.e., cataloged and properly stamped. The bookplates, if requested, will also be added to the book at this time.
Materials will be shelved by the appropriate department for patron use.