Townsend Library accepts donations of materials that meet collection development guidelines. Materials should be in good physical condition with no significant damage, mold, stains, or heavy writing. There should be no stains or mildew, yellow or brittle pages, and bindings should be in good repair. Periodical donations are usually not accepted, unless they are not available electronically, and provide a complete run of bound volumes in an area requiring a high level of curriculum support. The library will not provide any estimation of value for any donated item, but will provide a letter of acknowledgment describing any donation which is accepted. Donated materials are not guaranteed to be added to the collection. Located in the front lobby by the entrance doors is the library free cart where we place items for availability to all patrons. Patrons may take any of the items from this cart at any time. In the instance that donations are not added to the main collection, staff will put any remaining materials on this cart unless donor requests for any of their unused items to be returned. Library staff asks that patrons do not leave items on the free cart such as donations, etc.