Gifts & Bequests

The Board of Trustees of the Hibbing, Minnesota, Public Library subscribes to the policy stated below regarding gifts and bequests to libraries as adopted by the Council of the American Library Association. The Library has long been favored by public-spirited citizens as a beneficiary of gifts because it is a democratic, educational institution carrying on from generation to generation a great, free, humanitarian service to young and old, sick and well, rich and poor of every race, creed, and station of life. Changing social and economic conditions have produced a need for new ideas, for testing methods, and for departure from previous practices in this field of private beneficence.

Although the American Library Association believes and declares that the community served is primarily responsible for the financial support of its public library, it further believes that private philanthropy and private initiative still have important roles to play in the building of library resources in America, and in extending, enriching, and improving the service of the library.

The Association, therefore, believing that gifts and bequests to libraries, both tax-supported and privately endowed, and to libraries of colleges, universities, and other institutions, should be encouraged, invites the attention of library trustees, lawyers, trust officers, and other friends of libraries to the following considerations:

  1. The Association recommends that, in recognition of the economic situation, any program for gifts and bequests should be formulated carefully and with long-term objectives which should be kept constantly in the public mind.
  2. The Association believes that memorials in the form of funds for library purposes have a strong appeal to many people because they present the opportunity to carry on the life interest of an individual or a group and can continue a beneficent service through the years. It recommends, therefore, the encouragement of such memorials.
  3. The Association believes that the development of trust funds presents a field for constructive work on the part of library boards and recommends to such boards, or to others responsible for the administration of libraries, that the possibilities and opportunities presented by such funds be called to the attention of their constituencies.
  4. The Association believes that one way to broaden the base of giving to libraries is to interest a large number of people in writing bequests into their wills, and it recommends that libraries let it be known that a modest bequest may be made with just as much sincerity and dignity as a large one and that it is just as acceptable to the library.
  5. The Association believes that insurance policies, including annuities, offer a form of gifts to libraries, the possibilities of which have as yet not been fully explored, and it recommends that libraries be suggested as the beneficiaries of such policies.
  6. The Association strongly urges that in considering any gift or bequest, the donor be asked to consult the library administration in order to make the benefaction of the greatest possible use both for the present and for the future and that he be asked to protect his gift legally in such a way that changed conditions in future years may be met without impairing the usefulness and general purpose of the gift.

In addition thereto, the following specific policies for the Hibbing Public Library are approved:

  1. The Hibbing Public Library will accept gifts of books, audio cassettes, compact discs, video cassettes, art works, etc. The library reserves the right to apply the same principles of selection as are applied to any purchase. The library also reserves the right to catalog, exhibit or dispose of the gift as it deems appropriate.

The following are of particular interest to the library:

  1. Gifts of printed or manuscript materials on the history of the community and the region.
  2. Hardcover books that are current or classic adult novels or popular non-fiction titles published in the last two years.
  3. Children's books.
  4. Paperback books published within the last five years.

All books should be in good condition. We will not accept books with torn pages or covers that have notes or highlighting on the pages. We will not accept books that are damaged or mildewed.

The library will NOT accept the following:

  1. Textbooks either in hardcover or paperback.
  2. Reader's Digest Condensed Books.
  3. Old magazines, especially common titles such as Reader's Digest and National Geographic.

Approved by Library Board of Trustees, July 8, 1987.

Revised and approved, November 9, 1994.