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Special Collections

Gifts and Donations

Special Collections gratefully accepts gifts of materials related to our collections, as well as monetary donations to support the continued preservation and use of our collections. If you are interested in making a donation, please contact us directly.

For more information about the areas in which Special Collections collects and our policies on collecting and donations, please see our collection development policy.

Special Collections gratefully acknowledges the Ernest and Mary Belle Espelie Special Collections Fund which allows us to continue to purchase materials for the collections.


Loan Policy

To encourage access, support research, and promote awareness of its collections, Augustana College Special Collections may arrange to lend materials to donors or other institutions for exhibition. Loan requests are approached in a spirit of collaboration with a willingness to provide access through the most suitable means, with the understanding that Special Collections has an ethical responsibility to safeguard materials for future research use. 

Special Collections loans material to its original donors/donor organizations and other approved institutions for the purposes of display or exhibition only. Under no circumstances shall material be loaned to any organization or individual for research use. Researchers unable to travel to the Thomas Tredway Library to access material for research use should contact Special Collections to discuss alternative means of access, such as reproduction.

In order to allow sufficient time to prepare materials for shipment, borrowers should submit a loan request no less than three weeks prior to the desired date of receipt. All loans must conform to Special Collections' Conditions Governing Loans and must be approved by the Special Collections Librarian. Special Collections reserves the right to deny a loan request if environmental conditions surrounding the proposed exhibition or display of material is unsatisfactory. Special Collections staff will adequately pack materials for transfer to the borrower and instruct the borrower in the proper handling and packing of Special Collections materials for return. The borrower should be prepared to assume any costs associated with the loan. Materials must be returned by the date stipulated in the loan agreement.

Please contact Special Collections if you have any questions about our loan policies or procedures or if you would like to initiate a loan request. These policies conform to the most recent ACRL/RBMS Guidelines for Interlibrary and Exhibition Loan of Special Collections Materials.