How Selective Should Special Collections Be About New Donations?

p strongMost special collections have an acquisitions policy, but money, space and staff capacity make disciplined ion more important than the volume of gifts accepted./strong/p p Primary Research Group found that 65.38% of respondents maintained a formal acquisitions policy and 19.23% had one under revision. Spending varied dramatically: the mean annual acquisitions expenditure was $61,200, but the median was only $4,000, with reported values ranging from zero to $800,000. The average can therefore give a misleading picture of the typical program./p p Rare books and university archives were each ranked as the top acquisition priority by 26.92%, followed by manuscripts at 19.23%. Donor solicitation was common&mdash30.77% did it actively and 46.15% sometimes&mdashbut only 7.69% said they had adequate space and staff to support new acquisitions. Nearly one-third said capacity was not adequate./p p A gift is not free when it requires transport, appraisal, processing, storage, preservation, rights work and long-term access. Policies should define collecting scope, minimum documentation, restrictions the institution will accept and circumstances in which financial support is requested alongside material. Development offices also need a graceful way to decline offers without damaging donor relationships./p p The best acquisition is not merely valuable in isolation. It advances a collecting priority, can be responsibly stewarded and has a credible path to research or teaching use./p p  /p