Monetary gifts to the Library

The University Library welcomes cash donations, bequests, and named endowments to be used to support the growth and development of our library collections. Small sums can be directly deposited with the University’s Office of Advancement or through the University’s Annual Appeal Program (please specify the Library as the beneficiary).

Substantial donations or enquiries regarding bequests and the establishment of endowments should be directed to the University Librarian in the first instance.

The depth and richness of the Library's collections is due, in part, to the generosity of many donors over the years. Some of the more recent resources which were afforded by the generosity of past donors are described here.

Donation of books or other information resources

Gifts of books are generally accepted for inclusion in the collections on the basis of relevance to the University's teaching and research programs, and the Library accepts such donations on the understanding that the location, retention, cataloguing, and preservation of the materials or other considerations relating to their use or disposition are at the discretion of the Library.

Donations are also accepted on the understanding that the material becomes the property of the University of New England, and may not be claimed back at a later date.

The Library does not accept gifts as long term loans, except under exceptional circumstances and only with the approval of the University Librarian. It is Library policy that gift material is integrated into the existing collections, and is subject to the same conditions of use as those collections. Special treatment of significant collections may be considered on the agreement of the University Librarian.

Materials generally not required by the Library include outdated textbooks, popular magazines, newspapers, scholarly books and journals which duplicate our holdings, materials in poor condition, and incomplete sets of multi-volume books or serials.

To arrange for the donation of books or other library items, please consult the Collection Management and Development Librarian.

Donations and tax benefits

In order to encourage gifts of significance to eligible institutions such as university libraries, the Commonwealth Government has established two different programs under which valuable donations may be accepted. Both offer a tax deduction for the market value of the donation:

Cultural Gifts Program

A tax deduction for the market value of a gift may be available to donors offering important collections or individual titles to the UNE Library. Gifts in-kind need to be valued by two valuers chosen from a list of those accredited for the purpose by the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Library staff are not accredited to provide valuations of donations, and their estimates are not acceptable to the ATO.

An ATO Certificate of Donation must also be completed, transferring ownership from the donor to the Library.

Cultural Bequests Program

This is a program aimed at private collectors who may wish to bequeath nationally significant cultural items or collections to the Library. Such bequests are encouraged, not only by being made exempt from capital gains tax, but by also allowing the donor to retain custody of the item(s) during their lifetime.