Contact with Donors
Donor relations are critically important to raising funds for the Library and ensuring that donors who invest resources have a good experience when they interact with the Library through events, personal contacts with Library staff, or in-person when visiting a Library. Each donor is critical since the Library does not have a natural constituency. If you currently have or anticipate personal contacts with donors, please review the Donor Relations Processes and Procedures provided by CUL Alumni Affairs and Development.
CUL Alumni Affairs is always interested in knowing about resources that offer attractive fund raising opportunities for donors. Please use the Collection Development Fundraising Opportunity Form to describe specific collection needs and send it to Alumni Affairs. Each completed form will be filed with their office and will be presented in an ad hoc basis to potential donors who might be interested in the material.
Gifts and Donations
Gifts
The accession of gift books and other items for the CUL collection is informed by the Library’s Collection Development Principles. The accountability for decisions to accept donated books and any gifts in kind for the CUL collection rests with the University Librarian, who may delegate the decision to the responsible Associate University Librarian, to the Director of Collections, or to individual subject selectors, depending on the size and/or value of the offered gift.
As a rule, CUL does not add duplicative items to the collection; our no-duplication practice includes gift materials as well as other acquisitions. No gift is accepted for the collection without careful review by a collection development librarian. Materials may not be held by the Library without a decision to add to the collection beyond reasonable time for processing.
If you are contacted about a potential gift of materials for the collection, please consult CUL’s Gift-in Kind Procedures.
Your gift shelf in 110 Olin, north wall:
On this shelf you will find material received as gifts, unsolicited serial samples, and books with questions from LTS. You should look at this shelf regularly. Note your responses / decisions on the flyers in the items (with your initials and the date) and place the items on the sorting table. Items to be added to the collection should receive a colored location flyer. All others should be marked according to your decision: i.e. Book sale, Discard, or the initials of another selector who may be interested in adding the item to the collection.
Places to Donate - have contact info ready for people who have donations which we can't take. For example:
Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library - info@booksale.org
Internet Archive - archive.org donation information
Better World Books - www.betterworldbooks.com see their dropbox locations
Thrift Books - where Friends of the Library donates books leftover from their sale.
Reuse Center - https://ithacareuse.org/ 2 locations in Ithaca, downtown and Triphammer Marketplace (open Sundays)
Sustainable Shelves Program - Baker and Taylor
Salvation Army Store, 381 Elmira Road
Thrifty Shopper, 376 Elmira Road (open Sundays)
Zubals - based in Cleveland
rev, 8/23/19, kw
Gift Policy
Cornell University Library Gift Policy
Gift Giving
The Cornell University Library welcomes and encourages gifts in support of the University's programs. Indeed, the Library relies heavily upon donors to help sustain its growth, many of the Library's most valuable resources and special collections originated in this way. Gifts of money, books, periodicals, equipment, and other research materials contribute to the Library's development. Modest gifts are much appreciated, as are bequests, endowments, and larger contributions.
In preparation for receiving gifts of books or other materials (referred to as gift-in-kind), the Library encourages donors to provide a list of materials including the name, dates, and general condition of the material. Because of the complex nature of Cornell's library system, it is often necessary to impose certain conditions upon acceptance of gifts. If gifts are accepted it should be understood that, upon receipt the University becomes the owner of the material and, as such, reserves the right to determine its retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to its use, maintenance, or removal. We ask donors to also consider a monetary gift to support processing and the costs of maintaining, over time, the material given to the Library.
Appraisal
The Library encourages donors to consider, for their own interest, obtaining an appraisal of their gifts for income tax purposes. Such appraisals are the responsibility of the donor and should be made, if possible, before the gifts are transferred to Cornell in order to establish their fair market value. The Internal Revenue Service considers the Library to be an interested party which therefore precludes appraisals made or financed by Cornell. For this reason, donors must bear the costs of appraisal, but the costs may be deductible expenses. As income and estate tax laws are subject to frequent revision, Cornell recommends that donors discuss gifts-in-kind appraisals with their attorneys. The Library is willing to help by suggesting appropriate professional appraisers who might be consulted, or by arranging for third-party appraisals after receipt of the gift in the library. The acceptance of a gift which has been appraised by a disinterested party does not in any way imply endorsement of the appraisal by the Library.
Acknowledgment
The Library acknowledges all gifts it receives. The Cornell University Office of External Relations will send the donor a receipt and a signed copy of IRS form #8283. We also provide gift and/or class credit for gifts-in-kind which include an appraisal or valuation by the donor.
6/04, rev. 12/20