- How does the Library of Congress obtain its books and other materials?
- Which vendors cover which country?
- How are vendors selected?
- Can I sell material to the Library of Congress?
- I sold some books to the Library. When will LC pay my bill?
- Can I donate a book to the Library?
- I sent my book to the Library of Congress. Where is it?
- How can my institution exchange materials with LC?
- What is the Cooperative Acquisitions Program?
- Does the Library of Congress (LC) sell books?
- How can I buy a book with the following LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number)?
- Does the Library of Congress give away books?
- How much is a book worth?
- What happened to the African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations Division, the Anglo/American Acquisitions Division, and the European and Latin American Acquisitions Division?
- What office is responsible for coordinating acquisitions policy at LC?
- How does the Library of Congress obtain its books and other materials?
The Library of Congress obtains material by purchase, exchange, gift, transfer from other government agencies and through the Cataloging in Publication (CIP) program and copyright deposit. Copyright deposits make up the core of the collections, particularly in the Library’s holdings of maps, music, motion pictures, prints, and photographs.
Back to Top - Which vendors cover which country?
Contact the appropriate Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access acquisitions division chief based on the geographic region of interest.
Back to Top - How are vendors selected?
For current materials, the Library of Congress tries to find a vendor in the country of publication. However, sometimes LC has one vendor for an entire region of the world, e.g., the Caribbean. For non-current materials, LC uses any vendor offering the material, e.g., a U.S. vendor that offers rare European publications.
Back to Top - Can I sell material to the Library of Congress?
The Library of Congress has purchase arrangements with book dealers around the world for newly published U.S. and foreign material. If you have an item for sale, contact the appropriate Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access acquisitions division chief based on the country in which the item was published.
Back to Top - I sold some books to the Library. When will LC pay my bill?
The Library's goal is to pay invoices within thirty days of the receipt and acceptance of an ordered item. For material sent from a foreign source, the time is ninety days. If there is a delay in receiving payment, please contact the acquisitions unit cited on your purchase order.
Back to Top - Can I donate a book to the Library?
The Library welcomes inquiries about donations but unfortunately cannot accept everything. The first step is to search the Library's online catalog to see if offered item is already in the collections. LC advises prospective donors NOT to send the item(s), but instead, to send gift offers identifying the item(s) offered. For books, the offer should include author, title, place and date of publication, publisher and edition statement, if other than first edition, or equivalent information for other formats. The offer should also include an estimate of quantity and of physical condition of the proposed gift. Prospective donors of books published in the United States should be aware that the Library acquires many U.S. titles through copyright deposit. For more information, contact the U.S. Copyright Office. If a book is published outside the United States, please contact the appropriate Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access acquisitions division responsible for that geographic area. If the gift offer is a large collection of items or potentially complicated, please contact the Library's U.S./Anglo Division. Also see general information on donations/gifts of materials to the Library at //www.loc.gov/acq/donatex.html.
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I sent my book to the Library of Congress. Where is it?
Search the Library of Congress Online Catalog to see if the item has been cataloged. If it is not found, check with the office to which you sent it: Copyright Office, Cataloging in Publication program, or the appropriate Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access acquisitions division .
Back to Top - How can my institution exchange materials with LC?
The Library of Congress has exchange arrangements with over 4,000 institutions throughout the world. If your library is interested, contact the appropriate Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access acquisitions division chief based on your institution’s geographic region.
Back to Top- What is the Cooperative Acquisitions Program?
The Library of Congress maintains offices in Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Pakistan. These offices acquire library materials for LC and institutions that participate in its Cooperative Acquisitions Program. The mission of the overseas offices is to acquire and distribute research materials from countries where conventional acquisitions methods are inadequate, to provide bibliographic data for these materials, and to bind or reformat materials for preservation. For more information, see the Library of Congress Overseas Offices Home Page.
Back to Top- Does the Library of Congress (LC) sell books?
The Library of Congress does not sell books or other materials from its collections to the public, nor is it able to provide directions to where such materials might be purchased. For more information, see Surplus Books Program or Cataloging Distribution Service.
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How can I buy a book with the following LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number)?
An LCCN normally indicates only that LC has cataloged the book, not that LC has published it or can offer it for sale. If LC is listed as the publisher, it may be for sale from the Publishing Office, the Cataloging Distribution Service, or the Government Printing Office.
Back to Top- Does the Library of Congress give away books?
The Library of Congress has available at all times, for donation to educational institutions, public bodies and nonprofit tax-exempt organizations in the United States, books which are surplus to its needs. For more information, see Surplus Books Program.
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- How much is a book worth?
The Library of Congress does not perform appraisals. Published price information is available at LC and in other libraries in such sources as: Books in Print for books that are still available in the book trade. For out of print materials contact dealers listed in the ABAA (Antiquarian BookSellers Association of America) Membership Directory. Many dealers maintain sites on the World Wide Web.
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- What happened to the African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations Division, the Anglo/American Acquisitions Division, and the European and Latin American Acquisitions Division?
Those divisions ceased to exist in October 2008, as part of a larger reorganization in the Library of Congress. They have been replaced by five new divisions: the African, Latin American and Western European Division, the Asian and Middle Eastern Division, the Germanic and Slavic Division, the Overseas Operations Division and the U.S./Anglo Division
Back to Top- What office is responsible for coordinating acquisitions policy at LC?
The Policy and Standards Division (PSD) is responsible for coordinating acquisitions policy.
Back to Top - What is the Cooperative Acquisitions Program?
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