Gift Materials Policy and Guidelines
Last Revised: 08/30/2026
Purpose of Policy
This gift policy outlines the conditions under which your gifts will be accepted, and ensures that the library retains oversight of the content of Trexler Library’s collections and remains in compliance with federal and state law and regulations.
Policy Statement
The collections of Trexler Library at Muhlenberg College have been developed through both the judicious purchase of materials and the donation of many valuable and useful gifts. Trexler Library appreciates donations and promotes an active donor program. Contributions of books, periodicals, manuscripts, and other materials can strengthen the library’s ability to serve the College’s academic programs, and we welcome your support.
Because of the complexities and costs of selecting and caring for gifts, we ask that you give consideration to our need for flexibility in accepting your donation. To such an end, we require donors to sign an agreement accepting these terms when accepting contributions.
Gift Materials Acceptance Guidelines
Purpose of Guidelines
This statement outlines responsibility for the selection and the conditions under which gifts are accepted.
Guidelines
Transport of Gifts
As a general rule, the donor is responsible for packing and delivering items to the library, including any delivery costs.
Selection
The College librarians have the responsibility for selecting items for addition to Trexler Library’s collections. The Director or Head Librarian is responsible for reviewing any major gift proposal and establishing the conditions of its acceptance.
The library has the following conditions for accepting gifts:
The Library’s collections include books, periodicals, maps, manuscripts, music scores, and other non-print media such as films, slides, CDs, DVDs, and tapes. However, due to the challenges of accepting, cataloging, preserving, and accessing older formats, Trexler Library does NOT accept the following formats except with prior special arrangement:
- We do not accept periodicals, journals or magazines except by arrangement for Special Collections
- We do not accept VHS or cassette tapes, except by arrangement for Special Collections
- Other formats may be accepted only by special arrangement.
Upon receipt, gifts are owned by the library, and become part of the library’s collections.
The Library administration reserves the right to select materials and determine their retention, location, classification, and other considerations related to their storage, use, or disposition. Selection of materials for retention will be governed by Trexler Library’s Collection Development Policy. Restrictive conditions will not be accepted in order that gifts may be maximally usable.
Donated items not appropriate for the Trexler Library collection may be sold, offered to other organizations, or otherwise disposed of as is appropriate for the particular material.
Trexler Library is not responsible for returning unsolicited material that is not selected for the collection.
Pennsylvania State law prohibits charitable gifts from being returned to the donor. Individuals who receive returned gifts can be subject to tax fraud allegations and charitable institutions who return gifts threaten their tax-exempt status.
Appraisal
Trexler Library does not provide appraisal of donated materials. Appraisal costs must be borne by the donor. The Internal Revenue Service considers a recipient library to be an interested party and disallows an evaluation made or paid for by the Library.
Upon request, the Library may be able to suggest appropriate persons or organizations to be consulted for professional appraisals, or refer the donor to published pricing guides, auction records and dealers’ catalogs where the donor can determine their own valuation. In general, the Library follows the code on appraisals established by the American Booksellers Association.
Acknowledgments
Each donation must have a Gift Acknowledgement Form filled out by the donor at the time of donation. Forms are located at lending services or near the loading dock.
Each donor who has filled out a gift acknowledgment form will receive a letter of acknowledgment from the Library that lists the number of items given to the Library. The Library does not provide each donor with a title-by-title listing of donated items, nor does the Library provide a list of items ultimately placed in the collection.
If requested on the gift form and selected for inclusion into our collection, a bookplate identifying the donor or memorial will be placed in each item.
Questions
Please direct any questions about the Gift Materials Policy to [email protected].