Acquisitions & Donations Policy

The French Institute continues to acquire material within the scope of its mission. The director makes relevant purchases within the limitations of the annual budget. The Institute also accepts donations from institutions and individuals.

Donations normally consist of publications and archival documents, although artifacts are occasionally included. If the French Institute is unable to display or store artifacts properly, they may be offered to the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, or other similar repositories. Publications are examined to ensure that they fall within the Institute’s purview and to identify duplicates.

Any donated work already owned by the French Institute or d’Alzon Library is considered a duplicate. Although the d’Alzon collection circulates freely and the French Institute collection does not, space constraints prevent the Institute from acquiring books that are already available at Assumption University.

Out-of-scope materials are those that do not pertain directly to the French Institute’s goal of documenting the French presence in North America. Continental French literature, history, and theological writings are considered out-of-scope unless they deal specifically with North American themes. French-Canadian and French-Caribbean literature and history are considered relevant; however, they have a lower priority than materials relating to New England.

Duplicates and out-of-scope materials will be offered to other institutions or individuals, either for sale or free of charge, whenever possible. Remaining materials will be discarded. In the past, such materials have been acquired by the d’Alzon Library, Brown University, Yale University, the University of Southern Maine, the University of Maine at Orono, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, the Université Sainte-Anne, the French American Genealogical Society, SUNY Plattsburgh, Champlain de Champlain History Center, and La Librairie Populaire of Manchester, New Hampshire, among others.