Gifts to Library From Members of the Community
- Policy: The New City Library acknowledges the great importance of gifts and donations to enrich and improve the Library’s resources. The Library welcomes gifts of money, books, equipment, works of art, documents, photographs or property of any kind that promotes the mission of the Library. The Library reserves the right to refuse any gift that the Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion, deems not to be in the best interest of the Library to accept.
- Practice: Gifts may be accepted with the understanding that the Library reserves the right to add them to its collection, distribute them to other libraries, donate, sell or discard them. The Board of Library Trustees will take under advisement specific requests for the disposition of an item but the gift will be returned if the request is not deemed to be suitable to the goals and objectives of the Library. Accordingly, if the Library accepts a gift, that gift shall be final and no restrictions on the Library’s ownership, possession, use or disposition of the gift shall be effective, unless approved by the express vote of the Board of Library Trustees and memorialized in writing.
- Monetary gifts, gifts of stock, bonds, endowments, estates, land, etc. will be accepted provided conditions of such gifts are acceptable to the Board of Trustees, and shall be deposited and/or used as determined by the Board.
- Gifts of books, periodicals, audio/visual items, equipment, etc. which are in good condition shall be added to the Library’s collection only as such gifts are useful and fit in with the Library’s needs, goals and programs. The Library reserves the right to refuse books or other items. Gift materials shall be subject to the same selection standards for the selection of purchased materials.
- Recognition of Gifts: Generally, the appropriate means of recognizing donors of gifts to the Library shall be determined by the Board of Trustees. The Library welcomes monetary gifts in recognition of individuals or organizations. Appropriate notations may be placed on the Library premises, or affixed to books or other library materials, in the discretion of the Library Director. If gifts or funds for the purchase of books or other library materials are accepted, the donor may have the choice of selection one of the following three dedications, to be affixed to the materials:
- In Tribute to Proper Name;
- In Memory of Proper Name;
- Donated to the New City Library by Proper Name.
- Valuation: The Library will provide a timely, written acknowledgement of the receipt of gifts to the donor. Income tax regulations leave determination of the gift’s monetary value to the donor. Any donor wishing to have an appraisal of a gift done for income tax purposes should do so prior to donation. The acceptance of a gift that has been appraised by a neutral party does not imply an endorsement of the appraisal by the Library.
- Taxation: Gifts and donations to the library are tax deductible as allowed by law.