Disposing of surplus publications

Government of Canada (GC) institutions must follow the Directive on Disposal of Surplus Materiel and the Library and Archives of Canada Act. These require GC institutions to offer surplus Canadian publications to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) first, and then to other federal departments.

Offering surplus publications to LAC

Summary of procedures

1. The GC institution contacts LAC’s Gifts and Donations program at dons-gifts@bac-lac.gc.ca
2. The GC institution sends a formal letter or email giving control of all surplus publications to LAC
3. LAC emails a confirmation within five (5) business days and authorizes the immediate disposal of duplicate publications when there are more than two (2) copies and of foreign publications
4. The GC institution creates a list of surplus Canadian publications for disposal and emails it to LAC
5. LAC selects materials from the list, emails the GC institution informing it of the items to be transferred to LAC, and authorizes the disposal of the rest of the items
6. The GC institution and LAC arrange the transfer of the selected publications

For a full version of these procedures and more details on how to offer materials to LAC, email dons-gifts@bac-lac.gc.ca.