The National and University Library of Iceland accepts donations that strengthen its collections and are in line with its acquisitions policy. If you want to donate material to the Library, you need to contact one of the Library’s contacts first. Receiving, cataloguing and storing library material costs a good deal, so the Library has to be sure that what it accepts will be of use to its visitors. The Library accepts Icelandic material and material relating to Iceland if it does not already hold it or if extra copies are needed. It also accepts material that strengthens its collections in the University of Iceland’s fields of study or is of use to the Icelandic research community.
What happens to donations
The Library reserves the right to treat donations like the rest of its collections and to dispose of them as it sees fit. The same rules on use, location and weeding apply to donations as to other material. For large donations, the Library selects what it takes. If the material is very specialised, a specialist is often brought in to help with the selection. When handing over a donation, donors can ask to collect the items the Library does not take within a set time. After that time, the Library disposes of the books elsewhere. Donors can ask for a list of the material taken into the collections.
Handing over donations
Donations are usually handed over informally, except in special cases. Then there may be a formal handover, agreed between the donor and the Library. In every case, contact one of the contacts below about handing over a donation.
The contacts are:
Books and journals: National Collection, tel. 525 5630, gjafir (at) landsbokasafn.is
Letters and manuscripts: Bragi Þ. Ólafsson, tel. 525 5677, handrit (at) landsbokasafn.is
Music and visual material: Bryndís Vilbergsdóttir, tel. 525 5774, bryndisv (at) landsbokasafn.is