Multnomah County Library welcomes donations of a limited amount of materials (one box or bag) or money. Gifts of materials are sent to the Friends of the Library for their book sales. The profits from the book sales are used to support library activities. The library does not add gifts of materials to the library collection. 

The general public often shows support of the library in tangible ways, either with material or monetary gifts. The library must be able to express its appreciation of public generosity, while maintaining efficient and cost effective processes of dealing with these gifts. Processing single items manually is very expensive as most library items are pre­-processed and added to the catalog electronically.

Monetary gifts of cash and checks in any amount are put into the donations envelope in the cash register. These donations are sent to Business Services each week as part of the cash reconciliation process. Business Services will forward them to The Library Foundation.

Materials Donations

Donations of physical materials (books, DVDs, CDs, etc.) are managed by Friends of Multnomah County Library. Here are their donation guidelines. Donations are limited to one bag or box per patron at all library locations and the Rose City Reads bookstore located at the Operations Center.

1. Gift materials from patrons are accepted graciously with expressions of appreciation. Due to space limitations during construction projects, one box or bag of materials may be accepted per donation at libraries or the Rose City Reads bookstore.
2. Explain that gifts will be sent to the Friends of the Library (FOL).
3. Offer a receipt to the customer.
4. Send the gift materials (via the daily delivery trucks) to the Friends of the Library in black crates marked with green 'FOL' streamers. Materials may not be kept for bring 'em back exchanges. Send all donated materials regardless of content or condition to the FOL unless they represent a safety hazard due to mold, odor, or other circumstances.
5. Patrons with larger donations should be referred to Rose City Reads at the Library Operations Center. Staff should ask the patron to call ahead before they make a large donation.
6. If the donor only wants an item added to the collection, refer them to the Selections Office at 503.988.5846. Do not accept the material. A selector will talk with the donor about their gift and make a decision about its disposition. Complimentary copies or unsolicited items received by mail should be sent to the Selections Office at 635/OPS/Selections.
7. Offers of gift subscriptions to magazines or newspapers should be referred to the Selections Office 503.988.5846.

Prize incentives for Summer Reading are managed through a separate process. Please contact Summer Reading leads if you have questions. 

Monetary Donations

At a library:

• Cash and check donations are accepted with thanks and put into a donations envelope under the till in the cash register.
• Add the date, amount of the donation and your initials to the donations envelope.
• Patrons can make checks out to The Library Foundation or Multnomah County Library (MCL).
• Offer the patron a receipt.
• Each week, when processing cash reconciliation, send donations to Business Services, Library Operations in a red plastic envelope with or without deposit paperwork.

Online:​

• ​Patrons who wants to donate with a credit card may use The Library Foundation website online donation form. The form has a comment box that patrons can include donation notes or special designations. The form can be accessed from the library's public website under About > Support the library.

Other (non-book) in-kind donations

Library staff are not authorized to accept these types of donations on behalf of the library (including art, equipment, gift certificates, or otherwise). 

As the library’s designated support organization, The Library Foundation handles all monetary and non-book gifts made to the library. Inquiries made by patrons about these kinds of donations (in person, via email, or phone) should be directed to the Library Director’s Office, who will work with The Library Foundation to assess ability and interest in accepting an in-kind (non-financial) donation offered to support the library. 

MCL recognizes the benefit of seeking donations from businesses to support library programming. Staff-initiated requests also need to go through the Director’s Office, which will work with The Library Foundation to discuss the request and make a determination about how to proceed.