In the last year or so, we have been the recipient of 2 very large
groups of donated books. In both cases, we're talking about over 1000
books. For political reasons, we felt it unwise to refuse the
donations. But the problem is obvious -- what to do with all these
books when they come through the door? There are concerns relating to
staffing, temporary housing, staging area, time spent reviewing them and
selecting the keepers, disposal of duplicates, cataloging, and
shelving. What to do with books in disrepair? I wonder if the
expenditure of all this time and labor is really worth it.
If it is worth it, then we need more staff, more space, and more time to
do justice to the gifts operation. That is not going to happen in this
economic environment. If it is not worth it, then is the answer a
policy to refuse any donation over, say, 3 cartons? This could easily
turn into 3 cartons this week, 3 cartons next week ... you get the
picture. Have any institutions gone this route? Has anyone declared a
moratorium on accepting donations? Are there libraries that have
discontinued their entire gifts operation? Was there any fallout from
what you did? And what do you do with books that someone just drops off
-- recycle them without looking at them? What if there is a rare book
mixed in with textbooks from 1955, for example? At what point do you
say this is too much and things grind to a halt?
--
Helen P. Mack, Acquisitions Librarian
Lehigh University, Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem, PA 18015-3013 USA
Phone 610 758-3035 * Fax 610 758-5605
E-mail hpm0_at_lehigh.edu
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Received on Mon Aug 01 2011 - 01:21:54 EDT