Donate your book collection

The University Library has long appreciated gift materials from individuals and organizations; over the years, these donated books and other materials have enriched the library collection immensely.

The percentage of gift materials added to the library collection has however diminished markedly in recent years, for several reasons. Scarce shelf space requires that for any volume added to the collection, another volume currently in the collection must be sent to off-campus storage. In addition, improved interlibrary loan procedures have reduced the need for UCSC to add titles to its collection when those titles are held by other institutions.

Gifts have never been "free," as staff resources have always been required for pickup, evaluation, cataloging, labelling, and disposal (of unwanted items). Current budgetary cuts and the consequent loss of key gift staff positions force the library to drastically curtail the amount of gift material that it accepts, because the cost of nearly all gifts now exceeds the benefit they might bring to the library.

The library therefore is generally unable to accept gifts of collections of material. Collections of archival or rare material will continue to be of strong interest to Special Collections and unique or historic maps of the local region (with the exception of road maps) will continue to be of interest to the Map Collection. Individual offerings by authors, publishers, and community members will continue to be welcomed and may be delivered to reference or other library personnel.

However, for all other materials, please follow the suggestions below. If you wish additional information or feel that your collection may have unusual value for the library, you are welcome to contact the gifts coordinator, Paul Machlis, at 459-3540 (machlis@ucsc.edu). It should be emphasized that however meaningful a collection has been to an individual or family, it may be duplicative of material already in the University library and therefore not of interest to the library.

In general, unbound magazines, journals, newspapers and other such material should be recycled; both the UCSC campus mixed-paper recycling program (distinct from the office-paper recycling program) and the Santa Cruz County recycling program accept such material. For questions about the campus mixed-paper recycling (such as where bins are located, how to dispose of extremely large amounts of paper, etc.), contact Dave Wade (459-3671, dmwade@ucsc.edu).

We suggest that you deliver all other materials, including books, recordings, and audio-visual material to Logos Books and Records. Logos, in downtown Santa Cruz, is happy to accept materials in any quantity. If you wish your material to benefit the University Library, you may indicate this to the Logos staff; you will be provided a gift form for tax purposes and the library will receive credit for those materials that Logos will resell, providing the library with money to purchase needed books. The remaining materials will go to a number of non-profit charitable organizations (principally the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Library). Although Logos generally requires that materials be brought to the store, you may call them to discuss possible pick-up of large collections. For small quantities, you may simply deliver your materials without appointment to Logos for evaluation; for larger amounts, an appointment is strongly recommended. For very large or special collections, you are advised to speak to Debbie Shayne (below).


Contact information:

Library Gifts Coordinator: Paul Machlis, 459-3540, machlis@ucsc.edu

Head of Special Collections: Christine Bunting, 459-4425, cbunting@ucsc.edu

Map Librarian: Cynthia Jahns, 459-3187, cjahns@ucsc.edu

Logos Books and Records, 1117 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz,
427-5100 (press 6 to make an appointment), (logos@logosbooksrecords.com); Debbie Shayne, main
gifts contact, 427-5104, debbie@logosbooksrecords.com

To view and print our Letter of Gift Form, click on the link below. (Download a copy of Acrobat Reader from Adobe if it is not already installed on your computer.)

View Letter of Gift Form