Gift-in-Kind Donation Policy

We are currently not accepting gift books except for faculty and alumni publications. Exceptions may be made for rare books/materials or Davidson-specific books/materials.

If you have items in those categories that you would like to donate, please refer to the “Procedures for Donating Materials to the Library” section below.

Policy on Accepting Gifts

Due to a space shortage in the library and the high costs associated with processing, storing, and preserving materials, the library can only accept items that meet current and anticipated curricular and research needs or that contribute to the historical record of the college. We reserve the right to decline gifts of materials that do not meet current collection goals and policies.

All donations must be pre-approved by the Assistant Director for Collections Strategies or Assistant Director for Archives, Special Collections, and Community prior to delivery. Donors are also required to complete a donation form. While intermediaries may initiate conversations with library staff about potential gifts, the Assistant Director for Collections Strategies or Assistant Director for Archives, Special Collections, and Community must have direct contact with a donor before gifts are accepted and received.

The library cannot appraise gifts for tax purposes. We will acknowledge receipt of pre-approved gifts but cannot assign actual values for materials. Donors who require this information should arrange for the materials to be appraised prior to donating them to the library. Donors are responsible for all appraisal costs.

Donors are responsible for packing and shipping/delivering gifts-in kind and for fees related to shipping, insurance, and delivery.

Donors should be aware that gifts-in-kind accepted by the library become the property of Davidson College, and the library reserves the right to determine matters related to the retention, processing, shelving location, use, preservation, and possible disposition of the material. For the items it accepts, the library will make every effort to put them to good use; items that we do not keep will be offered to another library or organization (such as Better World Books) or recycled.

Guidelines

Gifts should support the college's curricular and research needs; in most cases, they should also be scholarly in nature.

The library will not accept damaged materials, including, but not limited to, materials with missing pages, missing covers, warped or water damaged pages, and markings or annotations (including highlighting).

For the health and safety of our staff, we will not accept materials with mold/mildew damage, insect damage, or pungent odors caused by contact with rodents or as a result of storage in damp/humid conditions.

With the exception of Davidson publications, we typically do not accept:

  • Duplicate copies of materials already held by the library
  • Reference materials older than five years
  • Microfilm/Microfiche
  • Textbooks
  • Superseded or outdated editions
  • Computer, software, or technology manuals
  • Self-published books
  • Advance reading copies and uncorrected proofs
  • Condensed books
  • Older, popular, trade paperbacks
  • Children's books
  • VHS tapes/Audio cassettes
  • Vinyl recordings
  • DVDs/CDs
  • Single issues and back runs of journals and magazines

Donating Materials to the Library

Please note that the library is no longer accepting unsolicited donations from visitors and we cannot accept or acknowledge donations without pre-approval as part of the process outlined in this policy.

  1. Please check the Davidson Library Catalog to confirm that the items are not currently in our collection.
  2. Please prepare and submit a list of all materials and include title, author, edition (if any), and year of publication for each item. Please email or mail your list to Matthew Ballard at maballard@davidson.edu. 
  3. For donations of materials related to the college's history- college publications, photographs, manuscripts, and other records- please contact the College Archivist DebbieLee Landi at delandi@davidson.edu.
  4. Library staff will review the list, identify items that we need, and contact you. We cannot accept donations unless they have been pre-approved by a collection development librarian. The only exceptions to this policy are the following:
    • Donations of materials written by Davidson authors (alumni, faculty, staff) that meet the guidelines outlined above do not require pre-approval.
  5. Please complete the Gift-in-Kind Donation Form (DocuSign) and send pre-approved titles, to:
    Attn: A.D. for Collections Strategies
    Davidson College Library
    Box 7200
    209 Ridge Road
    Davidson, NC 28035-7200