President Interview pt 44-- Gifts for the College

 

New President Interview  part 44

Gifts for the College

Question> I read in a local newspaper about a major gift of 12,000 volumes to a small college in Stonebrook. Since I know you are passionate about books and libraries, did your college try to acquire that collection? 

 Answer> Gifts and donations can be a valuable part of every college and library’s collection development strategy. Most of the artwork in our college was either an outright donation or the money was given for purchase. A gift of money or other financial instruments is always better because the college can choose the most appropriate purchase.  The donor can be acknowledged, and the object can be physically integrated into the building décor.  All material selection whether new, commissioned or donations should be consistent with the institution’s mission and policies.  That means all stakeholders must agree to a common written policy.

Our College’s policy is that each department or school drafts a gift and donation policy then the College administration makes sure the policies are consistent and approves them.  The policies are posted on our website so that anyone in or out of the College can read them.

 The College policy includes:

 

Gifts are accepted, with the understanding that the College may add the items to the collection at its discretion, sell or dispose of them if they do not meet the selection standards. The College is not required to discuss where or when to display the items.

 

For the library the following is added:

 

As a general rule, gift books will be added to the collection based on the same subject selection and collection development criteria as purchased materials. The library reserves the right to determine the retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to the use or disposition of all gifts[1].

 The College library would have declined the gift you mentioned because it did not fall within the collection development criteria.

 Q>  The collection was the collection of a recognized scholar and collector and the continuation of his father’s collection. Wasn’t the collection worth a lot of money? Why would you turn down a valuable gift?

 A> The short answer is that the subject scope of the books was not appropriate for our College. The College library generally collects book based on the curriculum and needs of the students and faculty.  In addition, about half the books were in poor physical condition and we couldn’t afford the disposal fees. Gifts require processing and cataloging costs.  Rarely do donors give money to catalog and process items.

 Q>  What can you tell us about the college that did accept the gift? 

 A> The college is in Stonebrook, a suburb of Large City.  It was established in the 1925 with 10 students.  In 1950 as a result of a new mission, more students, community support, a large donation, and desire to be a great institution it bought 15 acres of land for a campus far enough away from the city to be isolated, yet close enough to go to Large City when needed.  Today the area is built up and the community is not isolated. The college began as a yeshiva, a school of higher learning for post-high school men Studies led to ordination as a rabbi.  Students had to earn a bachelor’s degree at a nearby college or university before they could earn ordination. In the mid-1950’s a women’s school was added, but classes and activities were separate. Concurrent to the move to Stonebrook, an undergraduate program was added that included courses that led to an associate degree. Students could earn a bachelor’s degree at another college. The college is accredited by the state and appropriate agencies. Later they added a high school department. The library has books for Jewish studies and liberal arts.

 

The picture on the left is of the library building. The picture on the right is a sample area of the stacks.  The first floor has the dining room, meeting rooms, and the beit midrash (study hall).  The men and women share the beit midrash but have separate sides. The Jewish studies classes are single sex only.  Some of the liberal arts and science classes are mixed sex; some are separate. The library on the second floor, contains the reading room, quiet study rooms, storage rooms, work areas, offices for staff, and the book stacks. The campus has other buildings connected with underground tunnels so that people can avoid the inclement weather.

Today the post-high school men students major in Talmud to earn a Bachelor of Talmudic Law.  The program requires a second liberal arts or science major at another college. If they want rabbinic ordination they need to take the additional classes to satisfy those requirements.  Women students can earn a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature that requires a major in Jewish studies and a second major from another university. If women students are interested, they can study toward a Master of Arts in Talmud or a MA in Religious Education. Graduates may go on to graduate schools and many become rabbis, teachers, other professionals, physicians, dentists, businesspeople, academics, etc.  I saw one article about a graduate who is now a dentist and in his spare time created an app for mobile phones to help people find the times and places for religious services when away from home. Most graduates have a life-long commitment to learning and self-improvement. They are very loyal to the college and annually support it through several fund raising and social events.  The college offers community classes and weekly publications.

 When the college added a graduate program, they needed a research level library collection.  They had several professors who took an interest in helping with library acquisitions.  The library built a collection of Judaica and Hebraica that includes books as early as the 16^th century to the most recent materials.  However, like most colleges they were low on funds for purchases and depended on donations. In 2015 the library had 40,000 volumes.  In 2016 the administration without consulting the librarians said “yes” to a donation of 12,000 books. The donor was still alive and said that “his assistants” would start sending boxes of books.  The donor sent large collections of German-Jewish periodicals, but no monographs.  The college president never saw the collection before accepting it and didn’t understand the logistical steps required to integrate such a large collection into the existing library.

The donor passed away in 2018 and no one from the library or college inspected the books before they were packed and shipped.  One day a moving van arrived with about 400 boxes.  Immediately the college president knew something was not right.  Many of the boxes had been sitting in improper storage areas and were moldy, mildewed, or too worn out to be of use. That’s when they called me. The president realized the gift was more of a liability than a treasure. They had to hire staff to separate the books in good condition from books that needed immediate removal to prevent the spread of book worms, mold, mildew, etc.[2]

The head librarian at the time was near retirement and just never got around to examining the books. He had philosophical and management style disagreements with the college administrators. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students are not on campus. The current librarian and the administration decided to assimilate the collection, which after culling the damaged books, is now about 6,000 items.

 Q> The professor sounds like a Tanach (Hebrew Bible) teacher I had in high school.  His love of Bible was almost to the point eccentricity.  He was also a professor of Hebrew Bible at a Christian theological college on the North Shore.  He wrote many books and articles, but I don’t recall any titles.  He never referred to his own books by title. He was rumored to live on a vast estate inherited from his parents.  Supposedly, the house had three floors above ground, basements, and hidden rooms.  His parents used the third floor as a large party room, but after their deaths, there were no parties.  Is this the same person who donated the books?

 A> Sounds like the same person.  He never married and there were no heirs to take care of the collection.  The estate administrators wanted to sell the collection, but there were no buyers. In 2010 his health declined and eventually he passed away from unknown illnesses.

Q> Would you show us some of the older books from the collection?

A> Since Bible was his subject and the interest of his father the collection had some old copies of texts, commentaries, and translations.  Here are pictures of two title pages. Notice they are in Latin. The first is from 1714 and the second from 1633.  They are worth about $450 each (according to listings with dealers) and there are high quality scans available on the Internet. 

 Biblia parva has the Hebrew text with Latin translation. The second book, Paraphrasis in Danielem  has a Latin translation and commentary for the Book of Daniel.

 [3]    

[4]   

 Q>As always you have given me much to think about. We are out of time. Thank you.

 

Part forty-four of imaginary interviews with the president of the College. After more than 40 interviews the president is no longer “new,” but since we are all works in progress, I am continuing the series as if s/he were a “new president.” Please feel free to suggest new ideas for interviews and presidential comments. This article is for your information, amusement, and edification. The details, town of Stonebrook and the colleges mentioned in this article are composites from my imagination. Everything is true, but some details have not yet happened. Any connection to a real college or president is strictly coincidental.

Peer-review status-- This article was reviewed by two librarians, a Hebrew Bible teacher, and a businessman with no academic connections.  Edits were made based on their comments.  Last revised January 25, 2021

 

Notes

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[1] For more detail visit the ALA website for the article: “Selection & Reconsideration Policy Toolkit for Public, School, & Academic Libraries”.  http://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/donations

[2] Just a point of management -– In well-run organizations there are different levels of expertise and knowledge. Each management level has a different view of macro and micro issues.  Presidents and other administrators know about the organization and have macro of the institutional needs. Professionals such as librarians and computer specialists know about their areas and have macro knowledge of how information and computers work in the larger world.  Librarians and computer people need to work and cooperate with experts outside of the home organization.

[3] Biblia parva Hebraeo-Latina in quibus dicta insigniora omnia ex codice Hebraeo sec. ordinem libb. biblicorum, & in his pleraeque, & in tantum non omnes voces Hebr. & Chaldaicae codicis S. cum cura exhibentur . operâ & studiô Henrici Opitii.Quinta vice edita., 1714  by Heinrich: 1642-1712) Opitii, Henrici (Opitz (Author)

[4] Paraphrasis in Danielem / By Joseph ben David Ibn Yaḩya, Constantinus L'Empereur ab Opwyck · 1633