Created July 22, 2014
The Elisabeth C. Miller Library supports the mission of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens in serving the gardening public and horticultural professionals and by collecting books, journals, and other materials that support the research and teaching at both the Center for Urban Horticulture and the Washington Park Arboretum.
The greater Pacific Northwest is known world-wide as an exemplary climatic region for ornamental horticulture. As the largest horticultural library in the region, the Miller Library maintains a significant and substantial archive of Pacific Northwest horticulture as an asset to the University of Washington and the regional horticultural community.
The Miller Library Archives (hereafter “the Archives”) collects, preserves, organizes, describes and makes publicly available records that are deemed to hold historic horticultural value. Records of historic horticultural value document decisions, policies, procedures, events, the physical places and people associated with “us,” as defined in the scope below. The Archives will also include historic documents of people, organizations and public gardens of significant Pacific Northwest horticultural reputation.
The Miller Library Archives seeks to supplement, not replace, the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections (“Libraries”) and in some cases may duplicate materials held by the Libraries. Administrative, legal and financial records should be sent to the Libraries, if appropriate as defined by the University Archivist.
The Miller Library Archives is the only privately funded, publically accessible, focused horticultural archive in the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is defined by us as Idaho, Washington, Oregon, northern California (north of San Francisco) and southern British Columbia.
Printed material, including text, photographs, notes, brochures and other ephemeral publications. It is possible we will accept materials in other formats, including audio and video recordings, but this will depend on the feasibility of long-term preservation and require that items be in a format that has established utilization. The library may require items be converted to print or standard formats prior to donation. The library will not accept artifacts.
Upon receipt, all gift materials become the property of the University of Washington. Donor is required to sign a “Deed of Gift” to transfer ownership, and convey/assign any literary rights, copyrights, or other rights for donated materials to the University of Washington. The University reserves the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations relating to the use and disposition of gifts. Materials not selected for addition to our collection may be donated to other institutions, recycled, discarded or otherwise disposed.
We endeavor to accept only those materials that are in good condition and that will enrich our collections. Be assured that your gift will be handled responsibly and with care. Each item will be evaluated for addition to our holdings by highly trained staff. We regret that we are not able to notify donors of the final disposition of their gifts or return items not added to our collection.
All materials that are added to our holdings will be open for public research.
Each gift is acknowledged. Acknowledgment letters typically include the date of receipt and a brief description of the gift. We recommend that our donors prepare a detailed inventory and include a copy with their donations to support their charitable tax deductions. Donors of large gifts are urged to consider funds for processing and the preservation of their gifts.