Donations & Gifts

The library gratefully welcomes gifts of books or other materials in good condition suitable to our Christian academic library environment and supports the library’s mission. In the past, many important additions have come from the generous contributions of donors. The library also accepts donations of money to aid in collection and services development.

We would like to be transparent with our donors and ensure they understand why we cannot promise to add all gifts to the permanent collection. Shelving space is limited and we wish to acquire books and materials that students and faculty will find useful and informative. The Library reserves the right to accept or decline any gift of materials.

  • We ask that anyone who wishes to donate materials either contact the Library Director to discuss the donation or mail or email a donation form. Please see the Appendix for the Library Donation form. We can then select the items that will strengthen our holdings. If there are items we cannot use, we will place them on our Free Books Cart for all students and faculty. After a reasonable time period, the materials will be discarded if not taken.

  • Donated materials are evaluated by the same standards and collection policies as purchased materials. Items that will not be added to the collection are the following:

  • Duplicate titles

  • Previous editions

  • Materials in poor physical condition

  • Journals or diaries (for example, Life Journals)

  • Cassette tapes, VHS tapes or any type of outdated audiovisual format

We are open to purchasing items with gift money if the donor expresses an interest in a specific subject area. However, it is the ultimate decision by the Library Director if the item is appropriate and substantially adds to the collection. We will make every attempt to purchase a scholarly title in the specific field.

A letter of thanks acknowledging the receipt of gift materials will be sent. The donor should also convey whether he/she would like the materials to be gift-plated with a sticker stating the donor’s name and year.

The donor should contact the Library Director if there are any questions about delivery of donations. Gifts can be mailed or hand-delivered to the school. Arrangements can also be made for a university staff member to pick-up any large or valuable donations.

We trust that this statement of policy will in no way discourage library supporters from contacting the library about possible gifts.