Gifts for General Collection

Gifts of books and other materials can provide valuable additions to the Library's general collections that might not otherwise be available to users. The University of Texas at Arlington Library welcomes materials that are in good physical condition and that comply with our collecting priorities. Space limitations prevent the Library from accepting all offers of in-kind gifts.

Gifts are accepted with the understanding that they become the Library's property and that the Library reserves the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment and other considerations relating to use or disposition.

General Guidelines

As a general rule, the following guidelines apply to the acceptance and addition of gifts to the Library's collections:

  • The responsibility for determining the value of the gift for income tax purposes rests with the donor and all such appraisals must be completed before the material is given to the Library. Donors may wish to discuss prospective donations, appraisals, and tax considerations with appropriate financial or legal advisors.
  • Large donations (50 titles or more) of materials must be reviewed by a collections librarian who will determine the appropriateness and physical condition prior to acceptance and delivery to the Central Library
  • Donors must be willing to allow the Library to select needed items rather than accepting an entire collection
  • All gift items which fall into areas of interest to Special Collections may be referred to the Special Collections Coordinator
  • Large donations will not be accepted solely for disposal
  • Items in poor physical condition will be added only if they are rare or valuable
  • Duplicate copies of items already in the collection will be added only if heavy and continuous use warrants

Guidelines for Adding Monographic Gifts

  • Incomplete multi-volume sets will not be added unless the volumes can be used independently of each other or complete works owned by the Library
  • Workbooks, lab manuals, or any type of consumable material will not be added to the collections
  • Books with heavy underlining, marginalia notes, or extensive highlighting will not be added to the collections

Guidelines for Adding Periodicals

  • Issues of periodical titles that duplicate holdings in electronic (with graphics) or micro format will not be added
  • A gift of a serial title may be added if there are five or more consecutive and complete years
  • All gift subscriptions must conform to the guidelines of the Collection Development Policy
  • Donors wishing to give subscriptions may participate through the Adopt-a-Journal Program