Donate Materials

Special Collections & University Archives welcomes donations of materials that fit within one of the main collecting areas outlined below. These materials may be in any format, physical or digital. Please contact us if you would like to speak with us about donating materials in the following categories: 

Manuscripts

Materials that document Charlotte and surrounding area, primarily those that represent distinctive aspects of their time and place and/or fall into one of our core collecting areas:

  • local politics and government 
  • civic leaders
  • civil rights and social activism
  • urban planning and growth
  • the built environment
  • LGBTQ community
  • motorsports
  • textile industry

These materials may be any of the following:

  • personal papers 
  • organizational records
  • corporate archives
  • maps
  • photographs 
  • audiovisual recordings

University-Related Materials

Personal papers, memorabilia, photographs, and audio-visual materials that document student life, teaching, and the careers and activities of UNC Charlotte alumni. Please see our University Archives page to learn more about donating student organization records. 

If you are a UNC Charlotte employee and need to transfer official records, please see our records management page.

Rare Books

Books, journals, broadsides, and other printed or published materials that are rare (i.e. not available in many other libraries) and are in at least one of the following categories: 

  • exhibit distinctive characteristics such as early imprints, noteworthy bindings, important provenance or associative significance
  • were published by notable small or fine presses 
  • are in one or more of the following categories, representing our core collecting strengths:
    • North Carolina, primarily the Charlotte region
    • African American literature
    • other American literature, particularly North Carolina and Southern authors
    • children’s literature 
    • comic books and graphic novels
    • literature in Spanish and Portugese
    • works by Latin American revolutionary writers
    • Jewish philosophy