The Special Collections Department of the Sandor Teszler Library seeks to supplement and complement the library's educational mission of supporting the academic programs of Wofford College.
In support of the College’s mission, Special Collections will:
Serve as a resource to stimulate creative teaching and learning.
Promote knowledge and understanding of primary and secondary sources and cultural heritage materials.
Provide information services that will assist the faculty, students, and College community.
Encourage research and scholarship by making available and promoting the use of its collections by members of the College community and the community at large.
Appraise, collect, arrange, describe, preserve, make available, and curate cultural heritage materials of curricular, educational, and research value to Wofford College and the broader community.
Provide adequate facilities for the retention and preservation of such materials.
The chief criteria for acquisition or transfer of a collection or item are the curricular, educational, and research value of the item or collections.
The Special Collections Librarian will consider the acquisition or transfer of new collections or items using the following criteria:
The collection or item's potential to provide a basis for scholarly research and/or curricular use.
The collection or item's potential scholarly and/or curricular value within the existing or developing subject and/or format strengths of Special Collections.
Adequate funds and other resources (such as storage space) must be available to ensure that a collection or item can be maintained and developed.
The evaluation of all potential acquisitions or transfers in whatever format shall include a consideration of the likely and potential costs to the Library for acquisition, cataloging, storage, preservation, and reference services.
Special Collections may purchase materials from appropriate vendors or sources to complement existing collections or in anticipation of new emphases. While purchases are ultimately made at the discretion of the Dean of the Library in consultation with the Special Collections Librarian and Archivist, input and expertise may be sought from subject experts and faculty regarding the importance and utility of the items or collections, especially their potential to provide a basis for scholarly research and/or curricular use.
The Sandor Teszler Library reserves the right to refuse gifts, and to dispose of gifts as appropriate.
The Library and Special Collections do not accept “over the transom” or unsolicited gifts, i.e. items or collections physically left with/at the Library without prior agreement.
All gift solicitations are reviewed by the Special Collections Librarian in consultation with the Dean of the Library and the Archivist; faculty, administrators, and other parties are appropriately involved in a particular collection’s or item’s acquisition on an ad hoc basis.
Special Collections shall not provide any estimates as to the monetary value of gifts.
Items that don’t fit the Special Collections Development Policy are subject to deaccessioning according to the following policy:
Materials must be free of all legal impediments. No such materials can be deaccessioned when this action is contrary to any written agreement between the College and the donor.
No private sale or gifts of materials will be made to College staff, faculty, administrators or board members or their immediate families. All sales or gifts must be done publicly with complete disclosure of their history.
Any proceeds from the sale of materials will be used solely to further the preservation and development of collections in the Library. These efforts will include, but are not limited to, training, supplies, appraisals, etc. The fund may also be used for fees related to the sale or appraisal of items reviewed for deaccession whether or not the item is eventually removed from the collection.
Guidelines for Deaccessioning
1. Items outside of the scope of the Special Collections Development Policy, that aren’t rare, valuable or require special care, will be treated according to the Sandor Teszler Library Collection Development policy.
2. Items damaged or deteriorated to such a degree as to be unusable and/or a threat to other items in the collection will be deaccessioned.
3. Items unique to a location with value primarily to that constituency may be offered to the appropriate entity for that location.
4. Cultural Institutions that have significant collections of similar items will be offered the first right of refusal.
5. Items may be sold through auction houses, dealers, or direct sales. They may also be donated or used in a direct exchange of goods.
Procedures for Deaccessioning
After following the above guidelines, the Special Collections Librarian will meet with the Dean of the Library and the Archivist to review the selected items, and minutes will be taken to record the discussion. Deaccession forms will be completed and the materials will be disposed of according to the decisions made and documented by the Dean of the Library and Special Collections Librarian.
This policy is reviewed regularly. Last update: 27 April 2021.