[Michlib-l] Used Book Valuation

[James Lenze]

Linda,
I am not a tax specialist, but I believe that the donor must get an independent appraisal of the value.  That is what we tell our donors here at the Garden City Public Library.  We provide a receipt stating how many items of each kind were donated, but without assigning any value to them.
    James Lenze, Director
    Garden City Public Library

________________________________
From: michlib-l-bounces at mail.mcls.org [michlib-l-bounces at mail.mcls.org] on behalf of Linda K. Neely [lkneely10 at frontier.com]
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2013 8:21 PM
To: michlib-l at lists.mcls.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] Used Book Valuation

I am calling upon group expertise.   Our nascent Bath Township Library Center (now officially open!) has received many donated books.   We are wondering what you do to value donations if the donor wants a receipt for tax purposes.   I found these values at http://www.mmartone.com/?page_id=30
Book, children’s paperback — $0.50 to $1.00
Book, adult paperback — $1.00 to $3.00

These seem a little low to me, especially for some of the mint condition things we have received.  Is there a reliable source for used book valuations?
Linda Neely

Bath MI