MITSFS - The world's largest public open-shelf collection of science fiction is the MITSFS Library.
MITSFS gets a lot of donations and questions about donation processes. For some of the more common questions, please refer to this list. For more complicated or detailed questions, please email trojan@mit.edu
Please note that MITSFS cannot promise tax credit letters for donations of books at this time.
I have a large collection to donate. Can you take it off my hands?
Can I send my donation in multiple batches?
Can I donate books/magazines in another language?
What can I donate that will be most useful to the library?
How will you know the donation is coming?
How can I get the donation to you?
Can I get library credit/a letter of acknowledgement/tax credit?
Q. What can I donate?
A. While you can donate almost anything, we will not be able to keep anything that is not within the realm of science fiction or fantasy. (If you are unsure, please ask us! We'll give you an educated guess.) Books and magazines are the most common donations, but we will selectively accept CDs, posters, etc. If you want to know if we can use something that is not a bound volume, stop by the library or email mitsfs@mit.edu
Q. I have a large collection to donate. Can you take it off my hands?
A. Probably. If the donation is larger than a couple hundred books, please discuss it with us first. Email mitsfs@mit.edu with details and we'll discuss if we can take your collection.
Q. Can I send my donation in multiple batches?
A. Yes, but unless we know how many boxes to wait for, we'll process each batch of boxes we receive separately.
Q. Can I donate books/magazines in another language?
A. Yes, we have a collection of science fiction and fantasy in foreign languages. Please make sure that the donations are within the realm of science fiction or fantasy. We also appreciate a translation of the title and author into English if possible.
Q. What can I donate that will be most useful to the library?
A. Please donate space. We need it more than books. Email war-council@mit.edu if you have ideas, influence with the ASA space allocations process, or a lot of money lying around. In terms of books, we especially appreciate the donation of books we do not already have. Please reference our database to see if we already have a specific item.
Q. How will you know the donation is coming?
A. Please email trojan@mit.edu in advance so we know a donation is coming. Please include what sort of credit you expect to get from the donation (see below).
Q. How can I get the donation to you?
A. Small donations can be mailed to us or dropped off at the library when it is open. We are willing to pick up larger donations from locations in the Boston metro area, but scheduling will be awkward, as our keyholders have classes and/or work and busy schedules.
Q. Can I get library credit/a letter of acknowledgement/tax credit?
A. You can receive library credit for your donation. However, at present we can't provide tax credit letters.