You will find information about:

• Information for donors about serials donations

Information for donors about serials donations:

Thank you for your interest in donating materials to the University Libraries. The mission of the University Libraries is to provide access to information that will support and foster creativity, study, teaching, and research for the University of Arkansas campus community.

The Libraries do not accept walk-in donations or unapproved drop-offs at any of our facilities due to limited space and the high cost of sorting, reviewing, and processing donated materials. We consider only gifts-in-kind that relate to our mission and curriculum.

To see if your potential contribution fits into our collections plan, simply print and fill out this form and send it to us to start the process. You will be prompted to provide a list of titles, authors, year of publication, and edition to aid in our selection, as well as an estimate of the value of the potential materials.

If we determine we can accept your donated materials, once donated, the materials become the property of the University Libraries. Donated materials may be used or displayed in public or staff areas, put in storage, transferred to another unit within the university, sold, discarded, or donated to another institution, organization, or individual in accordance with Arkansas and university rules, guidelines, and laws.

Tips and Information

Items the Libraries are interested in adding to our collection include but are not limited to:

• Titles written by University of Arkansas faculty and alumni
• Titles about Arkansas and written by Arkansas authors
• Titles to be used to support a specific class
• Musical scores
• Fiction or non-fiction published within the last five years

Although exceptions may be made for special circumstances, we usually do not accept:

• Textbooks
• Popular fiction paperbacks
• Popular magazines
• Incomplete runs and single issues of periodicals/journals/magazines
• Multi-volume general topic encyclopedia sets (i.e. Britannica, World Books, etc.)
• Titles we already own (duplicates)
• Titles in poor condition; materials that show signs of mold, infestation, or significant degradation, or contain excessive highlighting or stains
• VHS tapes, audio cassettes, computer software, or other obsolete media

Appraisals: Because the Internal Revenue Service regards the Libraries as an interested party, the Libraries are unable to provide appraisals for tax purposes. The appraisal or establishment of an item’s value for tax purposes is the responsibility of the donor, as are appraisal costs. The Libraries will assist in identifying an appraiser for the donor when possible.

Donors should seek further information on valuation of donated property from the Internal Revenue Service and their own tax advisor or attorney. Two useful IRS publications links can be found below:

• Publication 561: Determining the Value of Donated Property
• Publication 526: Charitable Contributions

Acceptance of a gift that has been appraised by a third, disinterested party does not imply endorsement of such appraisal by the Library.

Some of the above text adapted from the University of Louisville Libraries General Collection Development Policy. The link to this policy can be found below.