This study indicates that gift materials are used less by library patrons than materials
selected and purchased by the library. The fact that the library used in the study was a small
academic library with highly selective procedures for adding donated materials (only 18% of the materials given to the library during the 1996/1997 academic year were added to its
collection) lends credibility to the contention that gifts are used less than purchased items.
Still, although the study shows that gifts are significantly less used than purchased materials,
the study does show that gifts are used by library patrons. However, librarians may want to
revise current gift policies or procedures to consider placing more emphasis on judging the
anticipated use of gifts before deciding to add them to the collection.