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Hertfordshire County Council

It’s now easy to donate online to the library service.

We are often offered donations of money by users who wish to show their appreciation for the service. Those who visit the library are able to do this in person. Now you can also support the library service by donating online.

Donate another amount

 

You don't have to donate. Hertfordshire Libraries are a universal and free service to the community. Your decision to donate is an entirely voluntary one.

We ask that you donate only as much as you feel comfortable with. You may want to consider either a one-off payment or more frequently.

 

What will the money raised from donations be spent on?

Donations will be used entirely to maintain and enhance the services we offer to the community. There are no deductions or fees and they will not be used to pay salaries. 

Here are some examples of what individual donations may equate to:

  • £2 will contribute to a place at one of our many children’s activities
  • £5 will buy a top-quality paperback
  • £10 will support our digital inclusion activities to address social inequality.

I already pay my Council Tax. Doesn’t this cover the cost of running the service?

Council Tax doesn't cover all of the running costs of the library service.

Hertfordshire Libraries (like many other library services) raises £1 out of every £11 in order to support the development and sustainability of services.

Donations are one of a number of revenue streams to help us achieve this.

What other ways of raising income are you considering?

Hertfordshire Libraries has a number of income generating services. These include:

  • photocopier charges
  • meeting room hire
  • display space hire
  • charging for stalls / pop-up shops
  • reading group subscriptions.

COVID-19 has impacted these services, highlighting further the importance of donations.

Will my donation go directly to my local library or to Hertfordshire Libraries?

100% of each donation goes directly to Hertfordshire Libraries and will be directed to where it is most needed. We think it is only right that funds are prioritised to where the need is greatest.

Can I Gift Aid my donation?

Unfortunately this is not possible at the moment.

Can I donate books?

Due to significant staff time for processing and limited shelf space, the following guidelines apply to book donations:

  • We cannot guarantee that donated items will be added to stock as they are subject to the same guidelines as all library items.
  • Donations not added to stock may be sold or disposed of sustainably. Any proceeds will be used to improve our services.
  • Books should be less than 5 years old and in nearly new condition.
  • We cannot guarantee that an item will stay at a particular library.
  • We are unable to inform donors of the outcome of donations.
  • We cannot return unwanted donations to the donor.

 We reserve the right not to accept donations.

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Like many other websites, we place small information files called 'cookies' on your computer.

Why do we use cookies?

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How do I change my cookie settings?

You can change the settings of your web browser so that it won’t accept cookies. For more information visit AboutCookies.org.

But, doing this may stop you from using some of the online features and services on this website. 

Cookies we use

Cookies do a lot of different jobs, and we use 2 types of cookies:

Required functionality cookies – these cookies are essential for the website to work.

Performance and feature cookies – these cookies help to improve the performance and feel of this website, for example providing you with personalised services.


Take a look at a list of cookies we use on our website:

NameTypeHow we use itHow long we use the information for

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Required functionality

An automatic cookie set by our software. 

Just for the time you are on our website.

ServerID

 

Required functionality

An automatic cookie set by our software. 

Just for the time you are on our website.

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Required functionality

To track the effectiveness of our website using Google Analytics. 

2 years

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Performance and feature

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1 month

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Performance and feature

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Just for the time you are on our website or 30 days (you choose this).

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Required functionality

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Third party cookies

There are links and content from other sites and services on our website. These sites and services set their own cookies.

Below are a list of cookies that the other sites and services use:

Service namePurposeMore information

Google analytics (_utma/b/c/z)

These are used to compile reports for us on how people use this site.

Cookies of the same names are also used for the same purpose by other websites such as Building FuturesCountryside Management Service and Hertfordshire LIS.

Visit the Google Analytics website for more information about the cookies they use.

You can prevent data from being collected and used by Google Analytics by installing Google's Opt-out Browser Add-on.

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It expires at the end of your browser session.

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