Gift Materials to the General Collections Acceptance Policy

1. General Guidelines1

UCI Libraries has long appreciated gift materials from individuals and organizations. However, due to space constraints and the high cost of managing gifts of physical items, the Libraries' can no longer accept most donations of books and other materials for the general collection. All potential gifts will be evaluated for relevancy to the institution's collection needs.

2.  Prior to Bringing Materials to the Libraries

In advance of bringing materials to the Libraries, the donor must supply a list of items to be donated for librarian review.

For books, this list must include:

  • Title
  • Author
  • Publisher
  • Year of publication
  • Condition (New, Good, Fair, Poor)

For journals, this list must include

  • Journal title
  • Publisher
  • Each volume and issue to be donated

This list will allow the Libraries to select materials that we will add to the collection. Without this list, we cannot accept gifts. The Libraries are unable to provide staff to assist with the creation of lists. Please contact Library Acquisitions at (949) 824-7205 for more information.

3. Appraisal

The Libraries are unable to provide appraisals of materials. Donors are encouraged to always consult with their tax and/or legal advisors, and tax return preparer, to determine the value of their donation for tax purposes (if desired). An official UC Irvine gift receipt is sent to the donor by UCI's Office of Gift and Trust Administration only if the donation is of value.

4. Tax Regulations & Gifts

IRS rules require that the Libraries retain for a minimum of three years each item for which the donor claims a tax deduction. Because of this rule and the Libraries space constraints, we can only accept materials that we actually plan to add to the collection.

5. Processing Accepted Materials

If donated materials are accepted, they will be entered into the Libraries’ existing processing queue and processed according to established priorities. The Libraries will not make promises or guarantees as to processing times when accepting gifts and will not accept gifts with conditions (either verbally or in writing) attached.

6. Unaccepted Gift Offers

Donors who offer items or collections that the Libraries cannot accept are encouraged to reach out  to  book donation programs such as the following:

Goodwill Southern California

     Goodwill has 81 different locations where they will accept gifts.

http://www.goodwillsocal.org/donate/

Friends of the Newport Beach Public Library Bookstore

Materials can be donated at the Central Library or any branches during business hours.  Guidelines and contact information can be found here:

http://www.newportbeachlibrary.org/about/friends-of-the-library/book-donations-18097

 

For More Information, contact:

Library Acquisitions
libgifts@uci.edu

1THIS POLICY ONLY APPLIES TO THE GENERAL COLLECTIONS AT LANGSON LIBRARY, SCIENCE LIBRARY, AND GML.  THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES NOR TO THE ORANGE COUNTY AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARCHIVE READING ROOM, WHICH ARE GOVERNED BY THEIR OWN GUIDELINES: https://special.lib.uci.edu/donating-materials