Sorting, Saving, Shelving: Behind the Scenes of the Library’s Book Donation Process

If you are anything like me, you probably have a good number of books that you have been meaning to donate. I know that I have stacks of books that I know I will never read, or read and didn’t like, and I plan to donate to my local thrift store. But an alternate choice is to donate these books to your library. 

We at the Blough-Weis Library receive book donations from past students, faculty, and members of our community. Despite the hard work and dedication that goes into collecting these books, not many people know the actual process that our librarians go through in order to find these books a proper home. 

I sat down and talked with Meg Garnett, our archivist, and our librarian that processes all our donated books. She told me the step by step of how she receives books, reviews them, and how she decides if they will fit on our shelves or not. 

Getting Donations 

“Anyone can donate,” Garnett said as she started to tell me her process. “It’s more about what the books are – and their condition – than who you are.” She explained that while most of our donations are from past students or faculty, we receive donations from everywhere, even from people with no direct connection to the college. Donations also come in multiple formats. While academic books are the most popular, we also get leisure books, casual nonfiction, children’s books, and sheet music. Donations can come in many different ways as well. Some donations are brought personally by the donor. Others are part of multi-box collections or maybe a single item that is sent by mail. No matter how the donations get to us or who they are from, Garnett carefully reviews their possible place in our collection 

For both book and archival donations, people must fill out our Deed of Gift. This form allows Garnett to evaluate if the materials donated would fit well within our library before physically receiving the books. Since the library may already have the books that are trying to be donated, Garnett can inform the donor and encourage them to donate the book to another library. This list can also include if the book is a part of a special collection or if it is an updated version of a book, which all factors into whether we can add it to our collection. While the final decision often cannot be made until Garnett has physically seen the books, which allows her to determine the condition, the Deed of Gift and a list of the titles help to eliminate the number of repeated books our library may receive. 

If Garnett believes that the titles are worth adding to the collection, she will request the donations to be sent. Once she has accepted a box of donations, she then must physically go through the books to inspect their condition. As Garnett sorts through donations, she usually establishes them into two piles: potential additions and items that will not be added. If she plans to add the items, she will inform the donor and begin the process of adding them to our catalog. However, if she does not choose to add them to the library collection, that does not mean that they get discarded. 

“People are often worried we’ll throw their books away,” Garnett said. “We explain that if we don’t add something to the collection, it usually goes to the used book sale instead.” 

The volume and quality of donations can widely vary. Some collections are large and well-kept, while others may be outdated or in poor condition. “Condition matters,” she explained. “Mass-market paperbacks don’t hold up well in libraries, even if they look barely opened. “A book is only recycled if it is completely unusable, often due to mold or irreparable damage. So, while a good condition book may not be the right fit in our catalogue, it can still find a home somewhere else. 

Processing Donations 

When a book is chosen to be added to the catalog, that does not mean that it is officially added. Garnett explained that often times we will already have a copy of a book in circulation, and it is up to here to compare our copy to the donated book. 

“If the donated copy is newer or in better shape, we’ll swap it for our worn ones. It’s a good way to clean up the collection.” 

When deciding this, Garnett explained that she was looking for a few key things. The first is the condition. If the donated copy is in much better condition than our copy, then it is likely to be swapped out. Sometimes, Garnett receives a collection that is in mixed condition. In this case, she will swap out the better copies, creating a mixed donated and non-donated collection. However, that is not the only factor. Another big aspect is how the donated copy is updated. Garnett told me that sometimes she receives beautiful copies of a collection, but the information is out of date or older than our copy. In this case, our copy remains on our shelves.  

Some books require extra work, such as checking reviews or evaluating academic significance. Garnett also must look for special editions or significant prints. If a book is a part of a special collection, they get sorted directly to the top. These books often require more detailed cataloging and need to be handled more carefully. She also makes sure to see if any books relate to Pennsylvania or local history, and if they do, they are also more likely to be added because of historical relevance.  

Books that are approved to be added to the catalog are then labeled, stickered, and barcoded to be prepared for shelving. If it is a replacement, Garnett will usually just give the donated book a new barcode and then add the new barcode to the already created listing.  

Garnett showed me the backend of their catalog system, allowing me to see how the book’s information all comes together to show its listing to users. She explained that everything from the author’s name to key words that someone may search for is found within this system. This means that it is easier to simply replace the barcode than to create a whole new listing. Once the old book is out of our system, she will put it off the side, often to go towards the used book sale. 

Within this system, there is also the ability to add a note about the donator of the collection. For special or major donations, the library often adds a donor note into the catalog record. “I’ve added whole sets thanks to donations,” Garnett said. “In one case, we added over 300 books from a retired professor’s collection.” To thank these donors, Garnett includes a special tag within the catalog indicating that the books came from a specific donor’s library. 

Shelf or Sell? 

If a book is not added to our main collection, it likely becomes the most recent addition to our used book sale! 

Garnett plans used book sales across the semester, often trying to correlate them with major campus events, such as Family Weekend, Homecoming, and Commencement. These sales are held outside of the library, often with two carts that are filled with books. The books are 50¢ for paperbacks and $1 for hardcovers. 

“Our book sale money funds the Shakespeare Garden. Everything from new basil plants to slug bait in a wet spring,” Garnett said. This garden exists in the space between the Blough-Weis Library and Hassinger Hall, one of our first-year resident halls. The garden holds a variety of plants and serves as both a practical and aesthetic part of our campus. Garnett explained that “with a few exceptions, the vast majority of that stuff is edible or it’s an herb.” While most students are not eating anything directly off the vine, the garden serves as one of the many sustainability efforts we have on campus. 

I have gotten more than one book from the used book sale and always look forward to the pop ups. If you want to stay up to date on when our next sale is, make sure to follow us our Instagram. 

I hope that you learned a little more about our book donation process. I applaud Garnett for all the hard work she does and am excited to see what new books may appear in our collection. And don’t forget – if you have books, you feel would be worthy in our collection, fill out our Deed of Gift today! 

Madeline Davis (’28) is a sophomore at Susquehanna University.  She is a Marketing and Advertising & Public Relations dual major. In addition to her marketing work at the Blough-Weis Library,  Madeline serves as the Public Relations manager for Susquehanna’s Best Buddies chapter and as an editor for Ginkgo Magazine. Outside of school, she enjoys reading, writing, and antiquing with friends.