From its beginnings in the 1950s St Antony’s College Library has greatly benefited from gifts from many donors and we continue to be very grateful for the continued support we receive in this way.  Constraints on space and resources necessarily mean that we have to be selective in what books we can accept, and we are usually unable to consider offers of further unpublished material.

All offers of collections to the College Library must be referred to the Librarian for consideration by the Management Executive Team at its next meeting with the Librarian. Potential donors normally provide lists of the items they are offering.

The following criteria are applied in considering whether or not the Library can accept a donation or bequest: 

1.  The material must fall within the scope of the Library’s acquisition policy.

2.  Resources required for receiving, processing and cataloguing material will be taken into account.

3.  The availability of the same books in other Oxford libraries or in electronic form will be taken into consideration.

4.  Books must be in sound and unmarked condition unless there is an exceptional case for acceptance.

5.  Donations and bequests are accepted on the understanding that they will become the property of the College on receipt. 

6.  Items to be added to the library’s holdings will be catalogued and processed as time and space permit.  Books will usually be integrated with the existing stock and cannot be kept as discrete collections.

7.  The donor will usually be acknowledged on each catalogued book’s bookplate and in the annual College Record.
 
8.  Items that are not retained, either at the time of receipt or subsequently, may be passed to other libraries, sold or otherwise disposed of, the proceeds of any sales being used to the benefit of the College.