Thank you for thinking of the needs of Milton Good Library patrons by offering your books or other published materials!
The types of materials we consider for donation are:
- Materials in the disciplines of music, peace and conflict studies or theological studies that fit with the teaching needs of Conrad Grebel programs. Generally, these are more recent or niche publications that our faculty and students do not already have access to.
- Materials published by or about Anabaptists and Mennonites.
- Materials by non-Anabaptist/Mennonite publishers/writers that have significant influence on Anabaptist/Mennonite life or thought.
- Bibles that:
- Are meaningful for Mennonites as individual books (for example, a congregation's "pulpit Bible" or a family's Bible), or are exceptionally rare (for example, a sixteenth-century "Froschauer" Bible).
- In the case of Mennonite family Bibles, these books are often quite large and, except for family information added in, are usually not unique in content. In these cases, we ask to either obtain a copy of the family information for the archives or, to be able to remove the original family information pages and keep these for the archives.
How to propose a donation:
- Please do not bring in materials unannounced.
- Make a list of titles (if possible, from the title page inside each book not the cover). We will also accept pictures of title pages in lieu of a list.
- Note if any of the books are not in good physical condition. We may still take them if they are rare items, but it is helpful for us to know this in advance.
- Contact the library at libcgc@uwaterloo.ca with your list.
- Depending on our work schedule and the size of the list, it may take a few days or several weeks to assess the proposed donation.
- Sometimes we are able to make decisions on the basis of the list itself. For some items, we may ask to see photographs or inspect the actual item. If you leave materials with us for assessment, let us know if you would like them returned if they do not become part of our collection.
How we assess materials for donation:
- In terms of non-Anabaptist/Mennonite materials, we generally do not duplicate materials we already have. We also consider how widely available each item is in Ontario university libraries in general. Sometimes we accept duplicates if the donated copy is in better condition than our current library copy.
- We sometimes collect duplicates of rare Anabaptist/Mennonite materials even if they are duplicates.
- We particularly welcome Mennonite genealogies, family histories, memoirs and biographies that we do not already have. Even if these are modest publications, such as photocopies in a binder, they are still valuable to the larger Mennonite story.
Tax receipt requests:
Donated materials that are accepted into the library collection may be eligible for a tax receipt if their fair market value exceeds $100. Fair market appraisals of less than $1,000 will be done by the librarian. When the valuation exceeds $1,000, the appraisal must be based on the evaluation by a qualified independent expert. If you wish to have your donation considered for tax receipt status, please notify the library in advance of your donation.
Library or Archival donations - what's the difference?
Generally, published materials are entered into the library collection, and non-published materials (diaries, sound recordings, meeting minutes, etc.) are acquired by the archives. Archival donations involve a different process. The Archivist-Librarian, Laureen Harder-Gissing, will gladly answer any questions you might have about either type of donation.