[Original posting followed by responses.]
Subject Gift collections and bug infestation
Duke has recently experienced the donation of two book collections, portions of which turned out to be bug infested when Shipping & Receiving staff went to pack the books to bring back to the library. We prefer to have a subject librarian visit a donor before having the collection picked up, but we currently do not require that step to take place. I would like to know of policies or guidelines other libraries have for the inspection of books, etc. before they are picked up or for Shipping & Receiving staff to follow when they discover bug infestation or mold in packing collections. We always ask donors about the condition of collections they are offering to the library, but their answers about condition are often inaccurate.
Thanks,
Virginia Gilbert
Head, Collection Development Department
vag_at_duke.edu
230D Perkins Library
Duke University
Box 90191
Durham, N.C. 27708-0191
==#1==
We had some mold in a recent gift & discarded the worst affected.
We try to see big gifts, but there is no fixed policy requiring a visit.
Tom Izbicki
Thomas Izbicki
Collection Development Coordinator
Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410)516-7173
fax (410)516-8399
==#2==
>From Phalbe Henriksen <phenriksen_at_neflin.org>
Ginny,
We're a small public library, so we can't afford the negative PR that would
come with turning down donations, so we accept them all, buggy and moldy, too.
We're about to start building a new library. I've designed a small room in
the storage room, in which I'll put a dehumidifier. There will be a drain
in the floor. Currently, I favor JC Penney's dehumidifiers.
There is a low humidity level that actually damages the binding of books,
but I can't remember what it is -- maybe 30%. (Optimum level for
preservation of books is 40%.)
If we're not going to keep the books because they're buggyand/or moldy, I
can run the humidity down to almost 0% and kill the bugs and make the mold
go dormant. Then I can throw them away.
(Actually, we bag them in trash can liner bags and I take them home, in
another county, and put them in the dumpster. That way there's no chance
the patron will see them at the solid waste site!)
Talk to your preservation people about the humidity level that will kill
bugs and cause mold to go dormant. I do this "by the seat of my pants,"
because the items are headed for the dumpster, anyway. You may well have a
very valuable book donated that has some mold on it. If you can make the
mold go dormant, and keep the book separated from the rest of your
collection, you may be able to keep it if the text is worth it.
We also from time to time have videocassettes returned full of roaches. We
seal them in a garbage bag and take them to Florida Pest Control. They cut
a little hole in the bag, spray insecticide in it, seal the hole, and let
it sit for two weeks. Then, I have the luxury of sending the video to our
co-op headquarters to be opened and cleaned out. :)
Phalbe Henriksen ~ originally from Wilmington, N.C. ~ Hi, up there in Durham!
Director
Bradford County Public Library
Starke, FL
==#3==
>From Joy Humphries <Joy.Humphries_at_mail.wvu.edu>
We recently had the opportunity to preview a potential donation from the
estate of one of our retired professors. There had been a roof leak in
the house and the distinct odor of mold was in the air. I picked up
several volumes at random and the pages were still damp.
We are a small college and most of the time, books full of mold just get
dumped on us. (Our delivery area is in the same room as our tech
services workspace.) I'm just grateful that the person in charge of
making final arrangements at this professor's house gave us the
opportunity to look at the collection before it arrived on our doorstep.
(It is unfortunate that the books were unsuitable to be given to
Literacy Volunteers or similar program.)
Another common problem we have is that donors want us as recipients of
the gift to appraise the value of their collection for tax purposes
which is against federal law. (We are in an area where appraisal
specialists cannot be located.)
We also do not have good contacts with corporate donors or other
sources of monetary gifts, so gifts in kind which usually don't even fit
our program needs are all we have to supplement our collection.
Joy D. Humphries
Reference / Tech Services / Government Documents
Vining Library - - WVU Tech
Montgomery, WV 25136
==#4==
>From Nelda Elder <nelder_at_ksu.edu>
At K-State we do what we call a "preservation inspection" in the loading dock area, where we get rid of moldy, obviously damaged and, very occasionally, bug-infested books. In the past a couple of collection development and subject specialists have taken this on as an extra duty. We don't leave it to the mail room staff to decide; they telephone one or more of the "inspectors" and we try to get it done the same day if at all possible, avoiding the temptation to do more intensive collection evaluation at that time.
Nelda J. Elder
Director, Collection Management
Hale Library 204
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-1200
785-532-7437
nelder_at_ksu.edu
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Received on Thu Aug 18 2005 - 08:36:19 EDT