Section 3

3.5 Gifts and donations

The school library may receive donations or gifts of material from other sources. These gifts may be solicited or unsolicited.

Unsolicited gifts/donations may be accepted by the library. Conditions for the acceptance of gifts or donations into the school library's collection should be clearly stated in the collection development policy. In particular, school libraries should decide:

• Whether all gifts will be accepted regardless of conditions imposed by donor
• Whether gifts/donations will be accepted only if there are no conditions attached.

Some donors want their bequests to be publicised. This is best achieved with a book plate and the library may like to design or purchase some for inclusion in the donated items.

However, it is important to carefully consider the gift in the light of the library's collection development policy. It is essential that the inclusion of the donation into the library's collection meets the criteria set out in the policy. If the gift is not suitable, the collection development policy should clearly and sensitively state methods of disposal of unwanted gifts and donations.

Solicited donations can be a useful way of increasing the resources of the school library with a limited budget. Other solicited gifts/donations can be obtained through researching your local area and contacting community groups. Once again, however, it is essential to ensure that the resources are appropriate to the information needs of the school library group and as such must always be evaluated against the collection development policy.

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