Library Donations

This morning when I was doing book drop I got a couple of really good donations. One a new book with a long waiting list. I love these donations. I did a little dance of happiness this morning. The library really does depend on donations through being able to add items to our collection and the funds generated by the Friends of the Library book store and book sales. We are always happy to see good donations. However, not all donations are created equal and some really do generate a groan and sometimes cries of disgust. Lay your hand on a bug encrusted moldy book and listen to what pops out of your mouth.
What makes a good donation? Well the following:
1) DVD's are always welcome as are unabridged audiobooks. I try as hard as I can to get DVD's into the library. We also like popular children's books that are very gently used (this is hard to come by). Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Captain Underpants, Geronimo Stilton--they all put a smile on our faces when we get these in good enough shape to add.
2) Books in good condition and I don't mean ones that were in good condition 20 years ago but have sat in a dusty garage for the last 18 years.
3) Books that are not out of date. No one really wants the 1999 college guide. Trust me on this.
4) Books that have not been eaten by vermin or left out in the weather.
5) Books that are not falling apart. A good rule of thumb is that if it is falling apart and is not a Dead Sea Scroll no one is really interested in it.
6) Donations that do not include encyclopedias, condensed novels or National Geographic. These things are heavy and take up a lot of space. Encyclopedias get out dated easily. Condensed novels have very low interest and everyone saved 30 years of National Geographic and wants to donate them. We have been saturated with enough of these items, the small market for these is just not active enough to justify back aches and space constrictions that they entail.
7) Donations that are reasonable in size--2 or 3 boxes are not a problem. But even pretty good donations can cause stress when they come in massive quantities. And beleive me the day that someone decides to bring in a big donation is the same day that at least 3 other people have decided the same thing. We like to go through the donations to see if there is anything that we can add to the collection, but when we have 20 boxes and a small amount of time, good things might get passed up.
8)Paperbacks that are not yellowed and with spines in good shape (uncracked is best)are welcome and may often find themselves in the collection.
9)Old books that are in good to excellent condition and might be able to be sold online as a rare book that can generate more than the average $1 or $2 that a used book usually fetches.

Sometimes we get donations and people want to see them on the shelf. We can't promise this--we have to evaluate the item and the determine if our collection actually needs it and if we have a record for it. When we add items to the library we have to link them to a catalog record so that they are searchable. If there is no record then it is difficult to link them because a record has to be created. This is time and money and one lone donation that is 10 years old and in questionable condition. Even if a book is new, that doesn't mean that I can add it to my collection. For example recently I have received 5 copies of 9 Dragons. The first 3 I was able to add but the other 2 I didn't because 3 copies meant that one would probably always be on the shelf and I don't have enough shelf space for a lot of duplicates. If I have a copy sitting on the shelf and it only goes out 3 or 4 times a year that means that I don't need two copies of the same item. Of course some things are season and we will keep extra copies--especially in the children's area because of cyclical homework assignments when we have a total run on things.

So feel free to bring in your donations but do look at them, if they are ugly, smelly, moldy and generally gross the best place for the item is in the recycle bin. Moldy items or items that hold insects can infect our collect and we would prefer not to have them in the library.