Scope: Starting July 1, 2025 CUL does not accept unsolicited gifts. Unsolicited gifts are those that are dropped off, mailed in or otherwise given to the library without advance notice or review. Any unsolicited gifts will be sent directly, without review, to the Friends of the Library Book Sale.

Contact: Laura Daniels, Swe Swe Myint

Unit: CMS

Date last updated: 12 Jun 2025 

Date of next review:  June, 2026

Inputting & Cataloging

Selected gifts are placed on designated shelves in the southeast corner of 107E, with a flyer indicating who accepted it, the date, and the intended location. 

Once they are on this shelf, they should be searching, input, and cataloged, and processed like any other materials, with the "Source of acquisition: gift " statistical code assigned. 

Communication

Although we no longer accept unsolicited gifts, we anticipate receiving occasional questions about them, from selectors or potential donors.

Questions can be referred to the Gifts coordinator

Here is some language any of us can use if contacted about materials:

Thank you for thinking of the Cornell University Library as a repository for your materials. We appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness in considering our collection. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept unsolicited gifts of materials and thus need to decline your offer. If you would like to support the Library with a donation, we invite you to make a gift to our Annual Fund, which you can learn about more here: https://giving.cornell.edu/campaigns/library/. 

Gift Notes

We will no longer be routinely adding gift notes.

Occasionally, large or special gifts may be received that will be an exception to this rule. Large gifts, which require a deed of gift approved by the University Librarian, will be treated as projects with their own procedures.

If donor information is recorded, it is recorded in the Holdings record in a "Source of Acquisition" note.

RMC procedures differ and are documented /[ where?/]

the following is copied from Gift Notes (which needs to be archived) and needs to be updated for FOLIO at the very least:

• 541 MFHD fields are more extensively used in RMC cataloging, and can be considerably more complicated.  This document does not attempt to address RMC practices, only to note that they occur and are compatible with the more straightforward guidelines.
• Multiple 541 fields can be linked with matching 583 fields ("Action" notes).  The linking happens through $8s.
• As throughout MARC21, $3, "Materials specified," may be used to note which portions of a resource have been donated by whom.

Example:
541:0 :‡8 1.1\a ‡3 Books ‡a Louis Dussault ‡b Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture, U. du Québec ‡c Gift ‡d 1/05 ‡e M051-01 ‡n 65 ‡o v.
583:0 :‡8 1.2\a ‡3 Books ‡a Accessioned ‡c 1/26/05 ‡k Margaret Nichols
541:0 :‡8 2.1\a ‡3 Book with publisher's no. 182 ‡a R. Michael Feener (via Prof. John Wolff) ‡c Gift ‡d 5/05 ‡e M052-07 ‡n 1 ‡o v.
583:0 :‡8 2.2\a ‡3 Book with publisher's no. 182 ‡a Addition ‡c 7/05/05 ‡k Margaret Nichols