Collection Management Procedures: Gifts - Books/DVDs

We ask that donors forward to us a list of titles they wish to donate.  This will allow library personnel to review the proposed donation and alert the donor of any titles we won't accept.

Donors should make arrangements to deliver the materials to the library.  Small donations can be dropped off at the Circulation desk.   Larger donations can be brought to the shipping dock, with prior arrangements for library personnel to meet the donor.  (To access the loading dock, the donor can enter Veterans' Drive, press the intercom buzzer, and tell the parking attendant they have a delivery for the library.)

Donors should bring with them a filled-in copy of the Gift Policy Form.

Proposed New Procedures (JR, 8/2016)

The donor will deliver the books with the Gift Policy Form.   Whoever accepts the gifts should record the total number of items donated on the Gift Policy Form, and make sure the Gift Policy Form includes the date of the donation and the donor's complete address.

At the beginning of processing the donation, library personnel fill out the "Gifts-in-Kind" form, indicating:

• The total number of each type of item donated (e.g., Harcdover Books, Paperback Books, Periodicals, etc.)
• Author/Title if 5 or less
• If more than 5, include general subject descriptions (e.g., Fiction, Geography, History, etc.)
• The Department Head signs this and it is routed to the Dean.
• If a UofM faculty member is the donor, the Department Head should alert the Dean via email.
• Make one copy of the Gift Policy Form and place in appropriate Gift Forms file.

After receiving the donation, feel free to pre-select titles for further review.  Immediately reject any of the following:

• mass-market paperbacks
• outdated technical, computer manuals & medical/nursing materials
• textbooks of any age
• heavily worn, torn, with loose-bindings, water-damaged, or heavily inscribed/highlighted books

Route these to the holding location for materials to be shipped to MPL.

Go to: Processing Gift Books

[Proposed New Procedures]

For all books to review, print enough Gift Routing Flags for the donation with Donor Name and Date of gift completed.

Place flagged books on shelves labeled "Pending Search" with copy of Gift Policy Form in first book.

Books will be accepted on review of condition, currency, topical relevance, and regional availability.

We will accept added copies if:

• The book has circulated in the last 3 years, or
• It is determined to be "canonic" or a seminal work in its subject area

We will not pursue replacing our owned copy unless:

• it has circulated in the last 5 years, or
• total checkouts is 15 or more

Donors are recorded as vendors in Sierra.   Before beginning to process a donation, library personnel should search the Vendor module for the donor's name. 

If the donor does not have a vendor record, please create one.   

To create a vendor:

In Sierra -

drop down function menu to Vendors

Click on "New"

Select template "GiftVend"

Enter vendor code. The vendor code is formulated as "z+first part of donor's last name."  For example, Sylverna Ford is zford.   Adjust as necessary if the preferred code is already in use.

Fill in the rest of the fields.

Notification preference is either "letter" or "no letter."  Default to letter unless you have been informed otherwise.

After you save the record, jot down the vendor record number.   It may be handy if Sierra can't find the record by the vendor code.

Processing Gift Books

1. Enter each title as an order
   1. Search the catalog to ensure a record does not already exist before importing or creating a new bib record; you can place a gift order record on an existing bib record.
      1. If the book is already in the collection, check it on the shelf
      2. Make an added copy if:
         1. The book only is held at a partner library (including Lambuth)
         2. The book is non-circulating; a second circulating copy is always welcome
         3. The book in our collection is in poor condition, or not on the shelf
            1. If the book is not on the shelf, please initiate a search through Circulation; this will begin the process of having it declared missing
   2. Import a record if the title is not in Sierra
2. Create an order record using the following guides
   1. ACQ TYPE = gift
   2. EST PRICE = $0. This is a placeholder, not a true estimate of value.
   3. FUND = 0gift
   4. ORDER TYPE = firm order
   5. RECV DATE = today
   6. STATUS = fully paid
   7. TRANSIT LOCATION = catalog dept
   8. VENDOR = Internal or External Vendor Code
   9. LOCATION, FORM, RECV ACTION, VOLUMES = as appropriate
   10. INTERNAL NOTE: Gift Policy Form signed date (take from the Gift Policy Form)
   11. Queue P.O. - checked only if donor wants acknowledgement letter (If you accidentally queue an order to print, you can delete it from the “SEND” queue without deleting the order.
   12. Flag the books as appropriate and place them on the shelves for cataloging.

At the discretion of the Dept Head or Acquisitions Librarian, or by special request, a list can be run of items added by donor name and sent by mail.

Once a month, or after a donation has been completely processed, we will send a letter to the donor itemizing what the library accepted.

This letter can be generated using the Print/Send Orders module.

In Sierra -

Drop down Function menu to Print/Send Orders.  This will be slow in loading - don't panic.

Limit by Vendors.

Enter vendor code, press OK.

After the list is reduced, select all donations from that vendor.

Click "PO Print"

Choose "Print selected," then "Print"

(this will also be slow) "Select Output Template" will appear in a small box.  Choose "GftLtrSK," "Select," and "Print."

After it prints, make sure it looks OK.  When the dialogue box asks, "Was the printout OK?", select "Yes."

Then have the Department Head sign the form.