What Happens to My Donations? –

A Librarian’s Perspective

Do you ever wonder what happens to your donations after you give them to the library?  If you don’t eventually see them in the catalog, are you disappointed?  Donated items, whether books, DVDs, or CDs, are an important component of library operations.  However, what happens to your donations may not be what you expect.  Once the donations are given to the library, the librarians review them for possible addition to the permanent collection.

(Everything that remains after this ends up in sales managed by the Friends.  These sales of used items generate funds for the Friends, which they then use to benefit the library by funding training for employees, programs for the public, and other projects advantageous to the library.  The Friends’ financial support is a valued supplement to the library budget, which is stretched thin in these hard economic times.)

Donated items should be in good clean condition.  Books should be like new.  No books will be accepted that have writing or highlighting in them, smell like cigarette smoke, or have sustained any other type of damage or heavy wear.  DVDs and CDs should be in good playing condition with any cases and cover art intact.

How much of our permanent collection is made up of donations? A relatively small proportion these days, but still a significant 11% of the total.  Since July 2010, the beginning of our fiscal year, about 1,800 donations have been added to our current collection at both Loma Colorado and the Esther Bone branch.

In order for an item to be added to our collection, it has to be something that fills a need within a subject area.  In general we do not add textbooks, magazines, software, cassette tapes, or videotapes.  Books of a very technical nature are also generally not good additions for the more general readers typical of a public library.

When it comes to nonfiction books, the librarians are looking for items that are current in nature, have format and layout that are easy to read, are written by authoritative authors in their fields, and have received good professional reviews.  Currency is especially important in the areas of health, law, and computers.  For example, a book on Microsoft Excel sounds like a good addition for a public library, but not if it is for Excel 2003.  Most people are now using Excel 2007 or 2010, and the few books we already own on Excel 2003 meet the scant need we have for this version.  Likewise a Physicians’ Desk Reference from 2005 is outdated enough that we would not want to have people using it as a reference source. Typically we look for medical books published within the last three years.

Current popular fiction is always in demand.  Donating your recently read copy of a bestseller like James Patterson’s Tick Tock may save the library from having to buy an additional copy to help fill a list of holds.  Classics that we don’t own or need extra copies of are sometimes added as well.  On the other hand, the popularity of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol has passed its peak, so this would probably not be a title we would add.

DVDs, audiobooks, and music CDs in good condition are sometimes added if they are currently popular or if they are classics that we don’t own.

Whether your items are added to the collection or, more likely, are sold by the Friends of the Library, the library benefits from them.  So if you have books, CDs, or DVDs you no longer want that are still in very good condition, please think about donating them to the library.

All donated materials should be taken to the Loma Colorado Main Library rather than the Esther Bone branch.  The Friends of the Library work out of the Loma Colorado Library, where they have space onsite to sort and store the material.  The Technical Services Department, also located at Loma Colorado, is the department that catalogs and processes any items that are chosen to be added to the collection.  Donations can be dropped off in the hutch next to the loading dock on the north side of the building in the employee parking lot. If you would like to obtain a receipt for your donations for tax purposes, you can get one from the circulation desk at the Loma Colorado Library.