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VCU Libraries Donation Guidelines

General Statement

VCU Libraries collects materials that support students and faculty in their teaching, learning and research needs. We are grateful for your offers to contribute to these needs, however due to space limitations for collections and the associated cost and time required to evaluate, process, and preserve acquired donations, we must be very selective in what we can consider. Currently, we are able to accept donations of materials from VCU faculty for our circulating collection that align with VCUL’s mission to diversify and strengthen collections.

We are no longer able to receive any drop-off donations that have not been pre-arranged through our Donations Form. Please consider showing your support with a monetary gift, and please also consider a monetary gift to support the cost of maintaining our collections.

Prior to filling out this form, please have completed the VCU Libraries - Items to Donate Spreadsheet. If you intend your donation to be sent to Cabell Library, email it to the Physical Inventory Manager at libcaiinv@vcu.edu. If you wish to send your donation to the Health Sciences Library, please send it to Liam Palmer, HSL Stacks Coordinator, at palmerwj@vcu.edu. The donation process cannot proceed without this list. Thank you!

If you have rare or exceptional materials that you would like to donate to VCUL’s Special Collections and Archives, please visit VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives Donating page.

Process

Faculty donations: Please use this form once you are ready to submit your donation request to VCUL. We have developed the following guidelines to assist faculty in the donation process, please read prior to completing the form.

  1. Make a copy of the VCU Libraries - Items to Donate Spreadsheet. If you intend your donation to be sent to Cabell Library, email it to the Physical Inventory Manager at libcaiinv@vcu.edu. If you wish to send your donation to the Health Sciences Library, please send it to Liam Palmer, HSL Stacks Coordinator, at palmerwj@vcu.edu. The donation process cannot proceed without this list. Thank you!
  2. Fill out the donation request form. Confirm that all materials are in good condition (free of mold, water damage, insect damage, missing pages, detached boards, etc.)
  3. You will be contacted via email with a list of the titles that we are able to accept and to make further arrangements. Please allow approximately 1 month for Librarians to make decisions about your donation.
  4. Depending on the size of the gift, you may be asked to fill out a deed of gift upon receipt of your donation.

To determine whether or not your materials are appropriate for donation, please consider the following:

We are grateful for gifts that:

  • Enhance the libraries’ holdings with materials that are not currently held by VCU Libraries
  • Support VCU students and faculty research areas
  • Are in excellent condition

We are not able to accept materials that are:

  • Not in good condition (e.g. mold, water damage, smoke exposure, brittle, falling apart, highlighting, underlining, missing pages, etc.)
  • Currently held by VCU Libraries
  • Textbooks
  • Outdated media (e.g. VHS, 16 mm film, vinyl records, etc.)
  • Manuals
  • Magazines
  • Photocopies or other facsimiles that may present copyright infringement

Please keep in mind:

  • Upon receipt of materials, they become property of VCUL. VCUL reserves the right to make decisions regarding their retention, treatment, and all other considerations for their use, unless otherwise agreed upon at the time of donation.
  • Commonwealth of Virginia and United States tax law prohibit Virginia Commonwealth University and its employees from providing valuations of gifts-in-kind. In general, an appraisal is not necessary for gifts-in-kind valued at less than $5,000 by the donor. Additional information on appraisals and qualified appraisers is included in Internal Revenue Service Form 8283 which must be filed by persons claiming the donation of a gift-in-kind valued at more than $500.