ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


Universal Gift Form and Instructions

Prepared by the Committee on Manuscripts 
Collections of the AC RL Rare Books and Man­
uscripts Section. Approved by the AC RL Board 
of Directors on January 23, 1975.

Universal Gift F orm
[Board of Trustees of the 
Anonymous Athenaeum]

I/W e  hereby give, transfer, and deliver all 
of m y/our right, title and interest in and to the 
property described below to the [Board of 
Trustees of the Anonymous Athenaeum] as an 
unrestricted gift and dedicate to the public 
without restriction and thereby place in the 
public domain whatever literary rights I/w e  
may possess to this property.

General Instructions 
For Universal Gift Form

Any deed of gift, or letter, if it incorporates 
the necessary elements, is a legally recognized

document which effectively transfers title for 
manuscripts or other items from a donor to a 
receiving institution. Such deed of gift formal­
izes the transaction and makes explicit the 
agreement between the parties. Certain ele­
ments must be part of any such deed of gift but 
additional variations are possible. They will de­
pend on the nature of the gift, the desires of 
the two parties as expressed in the verbal 
agreement between them, and the need to spell 
out any unique conditions and/or restrictions 
placed on the material. The following elements, 
however, are considered basic: (1 ) the date of 
execution, (2 ) the name of the donor, (3 ) a 
description of the items transferred, (4) the 
signature of the donor, and (5 ) acceptance of 
ownership and responsibility by the institution 
as evidenced by a statement to that effect and 
an authorized signature.

It must be understood that an intention on 
the part of the donor to give material, its ac­
ceptance by the institution, and the recording 
of that agreement and transfer in some written 
document constitute a transfer only of the phys­
ical property. Literary rights to the material re­
main with the party to whom they belong, and 
this may, or may not, be the donor of the ma­
terial. It is generally considered desirable at the 
time of transfer to acquire whatever literary 
rights the donor possesses, but it is necessary 
to include a statement covering such transfer 
in the deed of gift, if this is to be effected. An 
institution may elect to have those rights trans­
ferred to the institution itself or it may include 
a statement specifically dedicating them to the 
public.

The question as to whether one should in­
clude a place for possible restrictions with re­
gard to access to materials in a form developed 
to serve as a deed of gift is a knotty one. It is 
sometimes considered unwise to trigger the im­
position of restrictions which might not other­
wise occur to a donor. On the other hand, there 
may be certain situations which suggest, or in­
deed call for, restrictions, and it would be re­
miss of a curator not to point this out.

In general, however, the interests of the in­
stitution and its patrons will be best served by 
transferring the material in a manner which 
provides the widest leeway for the institution 
in the administering and servicing of the manu­
scripts. This will usually call for a simple and 
straightforward deed of gift, and it is that basic 
form which is suggested here, with the proviso 
that the institution and the curator must be 
aware of the range of possible variations.

It should also be pointed out that not only 
will the requirements vary with different insti­

95



96

tutions and with each individual gift, but also 
there may be a considerable variance in local 
legal requirements, and these will need to be 
checked. It would seem to be a cardinal rule 
that an institution or curator should seek some 
legal advice before instituting and using a form 
as a deed of gift. It should also be recognized 
that no form will cover every situation, and it 
will at times be necessary to draw up a docu­
ment tailored specifically to the requirements 
of a particular case.

Although some institutions will include other 
matters in a deed of gift, there are advantages 
to keeping the form as relatively brief and un­
complicated as possible. Such matters as (1) 
the disposition of unwanted material or dupli­
cates, (2) the handling of printed material, 
(3 ) the photoreproduction of the material for 
scholarly use, (4 ) the handling of publicity, 
and (5) the mechanism for permission to pub­
lish should be handled through correspondence 
or by other means.

If it is likely that in the future there will be 
additional material donated which is related to 
the initial gift, the deed of gift might properly 
speak to that matter. If restrictions are agreed 
on between the donor and the recipient and 
stated in the agreement, there should also be 
stated a terminal date and an understanding of

where the authority for continuation or removal 
of those restrictions lies in the event of the 
donor’s death.

All of these comments as well as the sample 
deed of gift refer to situations in which the 
physical property is being given outright to the 
institution, whether or not the literary rights in 
the possession of the donor accompany and are 
part of the gift. There are, of course, situations 
in which a donor merely wishes to deposit the 
material in an institution. In such cases the un­
derstanding is usually that outright donation 
will generally follow, but the curator must be 
aware that it is in no way inevitable. In such 
cases the offer should be scrutinized carefully 
and matters such as the availability of his ma­
terial for scholarly use, photoreproduction, and 
publication should be accurately understood be­
tween the donor and the institution. An entirely 
separate agreement of deposit which speaks to 
the necessary points should be developed and 
executed in the rare cases where such deposit 
is acceptable to the institution and outright 
gift of the material at the time does not seem 
possible. ■ ■

Reprints of this article are available from the 
ACRL office, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 
60611.

D raft S tatem ent on th e Reproduction of M anuscripts 
and Archives for Commercial Purposes

The following statement was prepared by the
Committee on Manuscripts Collections of the 
ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section. It 
will be considered for approval by the ACRL 
Board of Directors at the 1975 Annual Con­
ference in San Francisco. All comments and 
suggestions for revision should be sent to the 
chairman of the committee, Clyde C. Walton, 
Director of Libraries, Northern Illinois Univer­
sity, DeKalb, Illinois 60115.

1. It is the responsibility of libraries, archives, 
or manuscript repositories to facilitate access 
to original collections by permitting commer­
cial publishing companies to reproduce, re­
print, or otherwise publish certain collections 
in its possession, unless:
a. the physical condition of the originals 

prohibits reproduction
b. there are legal restrictions which prohibit 

or limit reproduction of the originals.
2. No repository shall be expected to reproduce 

a complete manuscript collection or archival 
record group.

3. The commercial publisher shall agree to the 
following conditions:

a. Permission. (1 ) The publisher shall be 
responsible for compliance with all copy­
right and other legal requirements appli­
cable to reproduction of the material bor­
rowed and will obtain (and will deliver 
to the owning institution a duplicate ex­
ecuted counterpart of) all such consents, 
licenses, and other instruments as may be 
necessary for such compliance. (2 ) The 
publisher shall agree to indemnify and 
hold harmless the owning institution, its 
officers and employees, any and all of 
them, against and from any liability, loss, 
cost or expense whatsoever, including at­
torney’s fees, which the owning institu­
tion, its officers and employees, any and 
all of them, may at any time incur arising 
out of or relating to the reproduction of 
any of its manuscripts.

b. Acknowledgment. The publisher shall 
cause the reproduction of any manuscript 
collection or archival record group to 
show that it has been made from an origi­
nal in the library of the owning institu­
tion.

c. Quality of Reproduction. The publisher