A question for the librarians

[ohgillian]

I work for a government-adjacent organization that is around 150 years old (think along the lines such as: National Association of State Treasurers, that sort of thing). In the 1915-1960 range, we produced an annual hardcover book related to our work.

Our book collection is incomplete and missing random years. Which, don't even get me started on how we didn't keep a volume each time we published one.

There are some university libraries in my state that have random copies from various years. E.g., X University owns the 1938 and the 1951. So they don't have a whole set, just 2.

How would I....reach out to see if they'd sell or donate* one of these to us? If it matters, some of the libraries are part of our state public university system and some are private universities in our state and other states.

Our legislative liaison could reach out to their legislative liaison, but I want to frame the request correctly. Is this even worth trying? 

Thank you!

*A portion of our entity is classified under section 501(c)(3) 

[waverly]

Some academic libraries can be a little bit possessive of their collections. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.

I don’t know why legislative people need to be involved though unless that is just how your organization works.

[ohgillian]

Sept 14, 2024 10:19:54 GMT -5 waverly said:

Some academic libraries can be a little bit possessive of their collections. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.

I don’t know why legislative people need to be involved though unless that is just how your organization works.

Sorry - they are also liaisons between various governmental entities, not just to the legislature. I should have called them intergovernmental liaisons.

And, thanks. I assume I’m just going to get laughed off but it seems like why not try.

[livinitup]

I wonder if you can ask for it “on loan” for the 150 celebration? That seems like something organizations that archive important things (like art) seem to do. It doesn’t tell you how but it might help with asking.

[rupertpenny]

I don’t think it’s weird for you to reach out, and I don’t think it needs to be a big official thing. I’m an archivist and there are definitely things like this hanging around in collections that would be better suited in other institutions, and archival best practices indicate that the books be with their creator institution.

Do you know if the books are in a Special Collections or in the general, circulating collection? I’d reach out to the Head of Special Collections or the top collection management person, depending. At the very least they should be able to provide you with a scanned copy (for a fee).

[underwaterrhymes]

I asked my husband, who is a public library director. He suggested you reach out to a university librarian and find out their structure, and then touch base with the head person there. He think that most librarians would be in support of contributing to a complete and historical collection.

[hermione]

Sept 14, 2024 19:30:13 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

I asked my husband, who is a public library director. He suggested you reach out to a university librarian and find out their structure, and then touch base with the head person there. He think that most librarians would be in support of contributing to a complete and historical collection.

I agree with this. Most librarians would be thrilled to give an item to complete a collection for a variety of reasons - especially if it's an item not widely used by their patrons. 

[ohgillian]

hermione , underwaterrhymes , rupertpenny ,Hello! I'm sorry I was slow to get back here but I appreciate all the responses and insights. Thanks also to Mr. underwaterrhymes I'll reach out to these libraries and if I remember, I'll report back down the road.
waverly , livinitup ,