DONATION ACCEPTANCE POLICY
SECTION I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 1. (1) This instruction regulates the activities of the Ivan Vazov Regional National Library – Plovdiv (hereinafter referred to as the Library) for accepting donations.
(2) Subject to this instruction are donations, drawn up by the library within the meaning of Ordinance No 3 of 18 November 2014 on the storage, use and disposal of documents from the library fund.
Art. 2. (1) The Library encourages donations that are consistent with its functions, objectives and tasks.
(2) The selection of donations shall be subject to the policy of management of the library fund, the normative principles of acquisition and the policy of raising the collections.
(3) The selection of donations offered follows the needs of the community that the Library serves.
Art. 3. The same criteria applys to the selection of donations as those applied to the purchase of new library documents.
Art. Article 4 (1) The Library accepts the following types of documents: books, editions, graphic publications (original paintings, art lithographs, prints, engravings, posters, sheet graphic, patents and standards, audiovisual documents (gramophone records, sound recordings, CDs, video tapes, films, slides, film-strips), electronic documents, manuscripts, archival documents, photo documents, microforms, personal libraries of prominent persons.
(2) By way of exception, the Library may also accept non-library material if it is an integral part of a proposed donation. In each case, the Library shall prepare a written justification for the exceptional circumstances and reasons which led to the acceptance of such a grant.
Art. 5. The Library may accept unsolicited donations, but without conditions, so that it may decide to what extent it needs the proposed documents.
Art. 6. The Library reserves the right to dispose of the donations as best found.
Art. 7. The Library obtains full ownership of the donation when no other terms are specified.
SECTION II DONATION POLICY
Art. 8. The Library invites its potential donors not to send the donations directly but to make their proposals in the form of a list containing the description of the documents considering their preliminary selection.
Art. 9. The Library encourages donors to grant copyright and intellectual property rights as a public domain so the library can freely dispose of donations in its own vision and for various purposes.
Art. 10. Donations are approved according to established criteria and procedures, where appropriate with the participation of library specialists in the relevant field (like archival documents, personal libraries, rare and valuable documents, original works of art, etc.).
Art. 11. Donations that can be integrated into the library fund, so that separate titles to be distributed and used in the different collections.
Art. 12. The Library carefully assesses the need to include donations in the library fund and make a pre-selection considering the level of spending on assimilation, storage and preservation of the donation in the years ahead.
(1) The Library requires guarantees that the potential donor is a legal owner or acts on behalf of another person who is the owner or creator of the documents offered for donation.
(2) The Library shall request from the donor the following data:
1. Name, address and contact information;
2. If the donor is not the owner of the donation: full name, address, and contact information for the potential donor, as well as information about the donor's donation or donor's contact details.
(3) For materials which are cultural value, information on their origin is required as follows:
1. for unique documents - manuscripts, old printed books, rare and valuable publications, archives and photo-docs;
2. for original works of art;
3. a declaration certifying that the donor is the legal owner of the proposed documents or that the donor is the legal representative of the legal owner and that there is no limitation on the right to donate.
4. For donations coming from abroad, which constitute a cultural value, a certificate proving that the documents have been lawfully imported into the country is required.
(4) In order to determine whether the library materials are suitable for the library fund, the Library requires prior information as follows:
1. Size of the offered collection – the quantity of the offered documents, the form and size.
2. Type of document – types of publications offered in donation.
3. Status of documents if they are cultural value in order to comply with accepted ethical rules for obtaining documents.
4. Chronological characteristics – the year of publication / creation of the documents.
5. Physical state – status of the proposed documents.
(5) The Library accepts documents only in perfect and good condition. If the documents offered are unique, rare and valuable, it is acceptable to be accepted in poor condition also after an expert opinion made by the restorer of the Restoration and Conservation Laboratory. For large donation collections and personal libraries, an on-site evaluation is done before a final decision on their acceptance is made.
Art. 13. The Library reserves the right to deduct the donation in the future, if the state of the supported collection requires it or if any circumstances changing the policy of management occur.
Art. 14. The ad hoc special preconditions that the donor may place are as follows:
1. Marking the donation with the donor's name. Such a requirement is taken into consideration only if the donation includes unique documents.
2. Specific location for exposure and storage. If a document is required to expose all documents in one place, to be separated into a separate collection or in a separate room, the Library considers the appropriateness of this condition.
3. Publicity. The Library supports the donor's right to publicly publish the act of donation through press releases, concerts, exhibitions, or online to gain public recognition and appreciation of the donation gesture.
Art. 15. The Library shall make an initial assessment of the resources required to receive, process, organize the delivery, preserve, store, reveal and promote the donation before making a final decision on its use.
SECTION III AUTHORIZED EMPLOYEES IN THE DONATION PROCESS
Art. 16. The Library empowers staff to represent it at various stages of the donation.
Article 17. Employees authorized to work with donations are as follows:
(1) for requesting donations: the director of the Library, Ch. librarian department “Acquisition. Continuing Publications and International Exchange”, the chief-librarians of the structural units supporting specialized funds.
(2) for evaluation of donations: Collection Board
(3)for accepting donations: a responsible employee of the “Acquisitions. Continuing editions and international exchange” department.
(4) for giving an expression of gratefulness: the Director of the Library.
(5) for signing a contract with the granter / donor: the Director of the Library and the Ch. accountant.
SECTION IV DONATION AGREEMENTS
Art. 19. Only authorized employees of the Library represent it In negotiating with potential donors.
Art. 20. Preliminary negotiations are not a condition and do not imply the acceptance of donations.
Art. 21. In the event of additional conditions, negotiations shall be undertaken by the Director or his authorized representative until they are finalized, including by means of legal expertise.
SECTION V GIVING AN EXPRESSION OF GRATEFULNESS FOR THE DONATIONS
Art. 22 (1) In response to each donation received (a separate document or an entire collection), the Library shall prepare and send a letter of appreciation.
(2) The letter of appreciation is sent after the donation is absorbed.
(3) For larger, valuable and significant donations, for personal libraries and for donations, for which the donor has established special conditions, shall be formed contracts in a standard form.
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
§ 1. This Instruction is discussed by the chief librarians and is proposed for approval by the Library Director.
§ 2. This Instruction is based on the National Library Legislative Framework and the Guidelines for Library Funds Donations: Guidelines for Libraries. IFLA Standing Committee on the Development of Library Funds. IFLA, 2008.
§ 3. This Instruction shall enter into force on 01.11.2017.