Donation of Historical Material
The Collection seeks donations of appropriate research materials and direct financial support. The acquisition of new research materials through gift enables us to preserve our county's valuable historical record and to offer new opportunities for research. Financial support insures preservation of our collections, promotes access to the various collections through new technologies, exhibitions, public programs, publications, and brings our collections to new audiences.
Information for Prospective Donors of Research Materials to the Bosque County Collection
Many of the Bosque County Collection's extensive collections of books, manuscript and archival collections, sound recordings, artifacts, maps, photographs, and newspapers have been donated by generous individuals, families, or organizations who wished to help preserve and make publicly accessible the written, printed, oral, and visual history of Bosque County.
The Collection welcomes having the opportunity of acquiring additional appropriate historical materials to help build its collections. We invite prospective donors, both persons and organizations, to telephone the Collection at 254-435-6182 to discuss our policies and procedures for donation.
Types of Materials to Consider Donating
Donors often ask us what kinds of historical materials we wish to acquire. Examples of appropriate types are listed below. Please remember that the Collection only accepts items that fall within its collecting scope, as described above. If you are in doubt about the suitability of your papers for donation, please telephone us--your "trash" may be our treasure!
Personal Papers:
Family letters
Diaries or journals
Passports, birth certificates, marriage records
Scrapbook materials, such as report cards, graduation certificates, programs, invitations, other documentary mementos, obituaries, newspaper clippings
Recorded or written oral history interviews or memoirs
Legal records, such as wills, estate materials, deeds, court records, contracts
Photographs and photo albums
Business Papers:
Correspondence
Ledgers or record books
Classified files
Financial records, such as receipts or invoices and inventories
Legal records, such as contracts, deeds, court records
Ephemera, such as flyers, calendars, schedules, posters, menus, business cards
Photographs or photo albums
Printed Materials:
Newspapers, books, pamphlets, posters, broadsides, and maps
Literary Productions/Writings:
Essays, poetry and fiction
Reminiscences or memoirs
Oral history interviews on cassette tape or narratives
Speeches
Organizational Records:
Charters, membership lists, minutes, yearbooks, programs, press releases
Correspondence
Newsletters or newspapers, brochures
Religious Materials:
Church, mosque, or synagogue records; programs, brochures, bulletins, record books
Prayer books, hymnbooks
Photographs or photo albums
Sound materials:
Music on disc, cassette tape, or as sheet music
Oral history interviews
Artistic materials:
Posters, drawings, photographs
Donating Collections: The Deed of Gift, Appraisals, Tax Deductions
Donors give materials to the Collection using a Deed of Gift, a form which conveys ownership of the item(s) from the donor to Bosque County, and by the physical transfer of the item(s) to the Collection. The Deed of Gift form will be prepared by Collection staff in consultation with the donor, and Collection staff will facilitate the transfer of materials as needed.
Donors sometimes are eligible to take a tax deduction for the market value of the materials they donate, and the Collection advises prospective donors to consult their attorney or tax advisor for information on the possible advantages of this form of charitable giving. The market value of gifted materials is best established by the donor hiring an outside, independent appraiser who will evaluate the collection to establish market value. Collection staff cannot make this evaluation. The IRS requires this outside, independent appraisal if the appraised value of a gift is greater than $5000. Additionally, the IRS requires that Bosque County sign IRS Form 8283 acknowledging receipt of the gift. Your appraiser and the Collection will assist you in managing this paperwork. To be acceptable to the IRS, the appraisal must be made no more than 60 days before the date of the contribution and before the due date of the tax return.
