The OTS Library's main mission is the development of a bibliographical collection derived from research supported or promoted by OTS. It comprehends a four library system located in its headquarters and all its three biological stations, where there are over 10,000 titles arranged in their different collections: thesis, bibliographical references to stations and directors, research papers published by students in the different courses imparted; given the fact that library prepares and updates specialized bibliographies for the varied courses, project reports as well as online catalogs.

One of the most important Library products is a set of online catalogs of which BINABITROP (National Bibliography on Tropical Biology) is a major standout. It gathers those scientific publications regarding Costa Rica and makes them available for the public in a data base. BINABITROP holds over 34,000 records of references for graduate thesis, monographs, journals and other publications.

Donations of Journals and Books

OTS is grateful to donors who wish to make a contribution of books and journals to our library in Costa Rica. However, due to space constraints, we have established the following policy for accepting donations of book and journals.

Prior to making a donation of books or journals to one of OTS' libraries, please send a list of items and the library for which they are intended (Walter Hodges Library at the Simons Center, La Selva Biological Station Library, Palo Verde Biological Station Library, Las Cruces Biological Station Library) to our librarian, Susana Aguilar in Costa Rica at saguilar @ ots.ac.cr. Susana will review your list for approval of suitability for OTS' collection and respond to you as soon as possible. Due to space constraints, OTS may not be able to accept all donations. Please do not ship any journals or books to Costa Rica without prior approval from Susana.

Once your list is approved, please arrange for shipping directly to Costa Rica. OTS is not able to reimburse any donor for fees associated with the shipping of journal donations to Costa Rica. OTS can no longer accept donations of journals to our North American Office.

United States Tax Considerations for In-Kind Donations

Donors will receive an acknowledgment and gift receipt of their donation from the OTS Development Office at our North American Office. If the value of the gift is over $5,000 and tax credit is desired, it is the responsibility of the donor to obtain an external professional appraisal, which an OTS development officer co-signs (form 8803). In other instances it is the donor's responsibility to determine fair market value. Appraisal of the monetary value of the gift for tax purposes is the responsibility of the donor. To receive a receipt for tax-purposes, please coordinate your donation with Jonathan Giles at jgiles @ duke.edu.

Effective date: December 1, 2008