Gifts & Donations

As of March 2018, the library is no longer accepting donations except for materials being considered for Archives & Special Collections. Members of the campus community can contact Nadia Nasr, Head of Archives & Special Collections, regarding donations of faculty papers, departmental records, or prospective book donations.

For materials which don't meet the criteria for Archives & Special Collections, the Salvation Army is happy to receive donations of books. Members of the campus community who have questions about alternative donation options can contact Lev Rickards, Assistant Dean, Collections & Scholarly Communication.

Archives & Special Collections is actively seeking donations in these areas:

• materials about the Jesuit order and its history, philosophy, and pedagogy in the United States
• non-fiction works about California (Alta and Baja) - from the Spanish era to the present day, and especially works of local history
• anthropology of native Americans of California (Alta and Baja)
• works about 17th and 18th century Judeo-Christian theology
• 18th and 19th century travel and voyage literature (pertaining to California) - especially personal narratives
• printed bibles (pre-1850), illuminated bibles (any era), and bibles related to local families
• 19th century memorabilia pertaining to Santa Clara University and/or Santa Clara city or county

Limited editions and fine print books are also sometimes wanted, depending on topic and valuation.

For these kinds of materials, potential donors should supply a list of titles to be donated. Any materials under consideration for inclusion in Archives & Special Collections must be reviewed by the Head of Archives & Special Collections or their designee.

If you're not sure about whether something you have would meet these criteria, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Once materials are accepted and received, they become the property of the library. The library reserves the right to make all necessary decisions as to their retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations regarding their use and disposition. Exceptions may apply if terms are mutually agreed upon in writing by both the donor and the library.

Donors are generally responsible for the cost of shipping and always responsible for providing an estimate of the value of the donation if one is needed as the library is prohibited from appraising gifts.

Donors of library materials may be required to file IRS Form 8283. The IRS requires the university to track for two years all in-kind gifts that are valued at $500 or more. If the library sells, transfers, or otherwise disposes of an item within this two-year time frame, the university is required to file IRS Form 8282, notifying the IRS of the disposition and the amount the university received for that item. The IRS requires the university to inform you that your contribution for tax purposes is limited to the market value of your in-kind donation, less the value of goods and services of benefit to the donor.

Gifts that are accepted may be reviewed subsequently for compliance to this policy and retention decisions.

Note that exceptional gifts-in-kind also require approval by the Dean and the Assistant Deans to be accepted. Examples of exceptional gifts-in-kind include:

• large print collections of more than 1,000 volumes
• collections of mixed media, multi-formats, or digital content
• content with specific technical requirements and hosting needs
• items or collections that have a dollar value over $5,000
• collections of a foreign language outside of in-house expertise