The AMS Book and Journal Donation Program matches donors of certain types of mathematical materials with recipient institutions or libraries in currency-poor or developing countries where there is a need for mathematical research literature. Potential donors notify the AMS of their available donations, which are then (if suitable) listed on this web site. Potential recipients from eligible countries (see list at bottom of page) can browse the list of available items and apply to the AMS for the materials (in extraordinary cases, applications made from within the U.S. and Canada might be approved). If a match is made, the donor will then be notified with instructions on shipping directly to the recipient. Shipments are never made to the AMS. The donor packs the materials (if possible), schedules the pick-up and the international shipping by a suitable shipper, and pays the shipping bill, which will be reimbursed by the AMS.
Questions should be sent to the AMS Membership and Programs Department at 800-321-4267, ext. 4139, or bookdonations@ams.org.
First you must contact the AMS to determine if the materials are suitable for our donation program. Suitable types of materials include multi-year runs of primary research journals, and quality research books and monographs in mathematics. Textbooks and the Notices of the AMS are not appropriate donations for this program. Widely available publications are accepted on a case by case basis.
Please send the following information via e-mail to bookdonations@ams.org:
Your name, e-mail address (or phone number), and mailing address
A brief description of the materials to be donated. For journals, give names and years and indicate whether issues are separate or bound together. An overview of a book collection, mentioning topics and numbers of books, is more helpful than specific titles.
The amount of time you are able to hold onto the books, since we may not yet have a suitable recipient.
Any problems you forsee with packing and shipping. In the case of large donations, the AMS may cover packing fees.
Or mail the information to: Membership and Programs Department, AMS, 201 Charles Street, Providence, RI 02904.
Donors will be notified about the approval of the materials. There will often be a waiting period before a suitable recipient is found, and then the donors will receive instructions about the shipping preparation.
Donations of books and journals made through this program are donations to needy (usually foreign) institutions and are not donations to the AMS; therefore, they are not deductible as donations to the AMS for tax purposes. Because AMS does not receive or otherwise handle the donated material, it is not possible for AMS to provide documentation as to the content of the shipments to the receiving institutions. The AMS is unable to offer advice on the tax status of donations to foreign institutions, except to warn donors to consult a tax advisor prior to making a donation to a foreign institution if the tax issue is an important consideration.
If the conditions of this program are not suitable for a particular donor, the American Library Association lists other book donation programs which may be a better match.
Here is the list of available donations. When contacting the AMS, indicate the number of the donation you are
interested in. Each donation must be shipped as a whole-the donations may not be broken into smaller parts.
Mathematical Reviews, Vol. 1-58 and issues 1980a-1992m (1940-1992)
Donation #35
Various Journals: Bulletin of the AMS; Journal of the AMS; Mathematics of Computation; Proceedings of the AMS; Transactions of the AMS. UPDATED (see detailed listing).
Donation #40
The Journal of Symbolic Logic, vols. 1-10; 1957 to 2003
The Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, 1958 to 1996 may be missing issue(s)
Donation #41
The Journal of Algebra, vols. 1-37; 1964 - 1975 (one missing issue: March 1973, vol 24, No. 3)
Donation #42
Advances in Computational Mathematics, vol. 6 (1996) numbers 3-4 (dash "-" means 2 issues are combined into a single copy); vo
l. 9 (1998) numbers 1-2; vo
l. 12 (2000) numbers 2-3; vo
l. 14 (2001) numbers 1-2, 4; vo
l. 15 (2001) numbers 1-4; vo
l. 16 (2002) numbers 1, 2-3, 4; vo
l. 17 (2002) numbers 1-2, 3; vo
l. 18 (2003) numbers 1, 2-4; vo
l. 19 (2003) numbers 1-3, 4; vo
l. 20 (2004) numbers 1-3, 4; vo
l. 21 (2004) numbers 1-2, 3-4; vo
l. 22 (2005) numbers 2, 3, 4; vo
l. 23 (2005) numbers 1-2, 3, 4.
Mathematics of Computation, vols. 21 (1967) - 43 (1984), separate issues.
Donation #43
American Journal of Mathematics, vols. 90 (1968) through 118 (1996) separate issues. Missing, vol. 110, number 2 (1988).
Donation #44
Primary research journals of the American Statistical Association, unbound (see detailed listing)
Donation #45
Journal of Symbolic Computation, vols 1 to 36 issue 4, one number of volume 27 is missing. (1985-2003), separate issues.
Please send the following information via e-mail to bookdonations@ams.org:
Name of person applying, job title and email address
Name of institution and/or library, and country
Mailing address for regular mail
Shipping address (and telephone number) for books
Which items in the "Materials Currently Available" list are you interested in?
Explain the need for such materials at your location. How extensive is the current mathematical collection, and how large is the mathematical community which will access the books?
Explain any special circumstances which have affected your collection such as wars, natural disasters, growth of the graduate program in mathematics, shrinkage of the library budget, or other issues.
Are your mathematical holdings available to all professional mathematicians, without regard to religion, gender, national origin and race/ethnicity?
Or mail the information to:
Membership and Programs Department
AMS
201 Charles Street
Providence, RI 02904
USA
Applicants will be notified about the result of the request. If plans are made to ship the materials, the receiving institution should anticipate any customs problems and instruct the AMS on specific shipping requirements. The AMS cannot pay customs duties.
