Gifts and donations

How to donate to the Library

If you are considering making a donation please contact the Metadata Team via LibAnswers, and include the following details:

• Approximate number of items (either numbers of books or measurement of the total space the books occupy if on shelves)
• Subject areas
• A list of titles
• Age and condition of the books
• Your contact details

If you wish to donate issues of a journal, please contact the team with details of the volumes concerned.

Donations that are not added to the Library’s collections are sent to Anybook and any money received is put towards purchasing new material.

Additional information

We very much appreciate all offers of gifts. However, before sending us any items, please read the following information.

In general, the following factors are considered:

• Value for teaching or research.
• Relevance to existing collections.
• Physical condition.
• The currency of the edition. For most subjects, only the latest edition will be accepted.
• Duplication of existing materials (only if material is in particularly high demand will duplicates be accepted)
• Associated costs of cataloguing, processing, conservation requirements and storage. Although the Library may not be paying for the acquisition of items, it still incurs costs associated with housing materials, and these must be considered. These factors may also mean that the Library is unable to give immediate priority to the cataloguing and processing of donated items.
• Local, national and international significance.
• Copies of books written by University of York academics are welcomed.

The Library regularly reviews its collections and reserves the right to dispose of items which do not meet these factors at any time. See the Library's Collection Development and Management policy for more information.

All donations are accepted without obligation to the donors and on the understanding that upon receipt the material becomes the property of the University Library.

Larger donations will normally be dispersed throughout the Library rather than kept in separate, discrete collections.