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Leesburg library seeks procurement guidance for disposing donated and deaccessioned books
Summary
Director reported the town procurement office reviewed disposal practices for gifted and purchased books and staff will return with a plan that fits procurement rules and staffing capacity; options include donation to the Friends, small book-sale vendors or low-value bulk buyers.
Laurel (library director) told the commission she has contacted the town procurement office to clarify what the library may do with books that are donated or later discarded from the collection and said staff will prepare a disposal plan consistent with procurement rules for commission review.
Laurel said the library’s record keeping on discarded items is adequate but the process for disposing of material needed updating. The procurement office has changed some procedures since the commission last addressed disposal years ago, she said, and the library’s prior approach of offering large lots to individual dealers may fall outside current rules.
Laurel described options staff are evaluating: donating low- or no-resale-value items to the Friends of the Thomas Balch Library (which could sell them and retain proceeds), holding a Friends-run book sale at a town event, or using commercial book-buyer services that pay a small sum for large shipments. “If it’s deemed to not have a significant resale value, then that is feasible because we could donate them to the friends who then could sell them,” Laurel said. She added that bulk resellers often return modest sums — she gave an example from another institution of sending about 200 books and receiving roughly $40.
Laurel said the library will draft a feasible, staff-capacity–sensitive plan that fits procurement requirements and return it to the commission for feedback. Commission members suggested the Friends could operate periodic sales and that low-value donations could be routed to partner organizations if allowed under procurement policy.
The director asked commission members for input when the draft plan is presented; no formal action was taken at the meeting.
