As the end of the year rolls around, you might be looking for some last minute tax deductions. At the same time, you might be looking to thin out some of your automobila literature collection. If so, think about donating to Auto-Archives, in Denver, Colorado.
“Our mission of is to preserve and document the rich history of the automobile, and provide both a physical and virtual resource for the study of the past, present, and future of the automobile, in all its forms,” said William Taylor, President of Auto-Archives. “We hope to inspire, enable and support the advancement of automotive studies for people interested in an industry that has, in the past one hundred years, changed the habits of modern society.”
Like many traditional libraries, Auto-Archives is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, which means if you donate an item to them, you can declare it as a tax write-off in the US. Ron Ruelle, Social Media Guy at hobbyDB, recently donated a large collection of magazines to the archives. He gave them copies of all 102 issues of “Chevelle World” magazine, a publication he worked for from 1995 to 2012. “When I was Art Director of Chevelle World, I needed to keep a complete archive of back issues handy for reference,” said Ron. “It was a great magazine, but I thought, ‘hey, they can put these to even better use.’”
The physical archive of all their literature will reside at their library location, while a digital database will be hosted at hobbyDB. Eventually, this partnership will mean the addition of millions of entries to the database. Combining the actual collection and the digital reference will result in any automobile enthusiast’s dream.
Besides books about anything auto-related, they’re also looking for factory brochures, manuals, event programs, and back issues of car magazines. “Ideally we want to have at least two copies of everything,” said William. “One in very nice condition for preservation, and one for visitors to browse.” Eventually, everything in the library will also be digitized for anyone to browse or read on hobbyDB.
Items in the Auto-Archives collection are either owned by Auto-Archives or on permanent loan. All photographic images in the archive are held under license with full copyright agreement from the copyright holder.
Auto-Archives has limited funds available to purchase collections for the archive, so they depend on donations from automobile collectors and enthusiasts throughout the world to grow the Archive. If you have any automotive related materials, or know of any individuals or companies that may have items that they would like to donate, please contact them. If you know of any collections or photographic archives that may be available for purchase. Period photographs are the most accurate record of vintage automobile and racing history, and, if properly archived, provide the most valuable part of any library. You can help preserve this area of automotive history that is all too often lost forever. And visit the wish list to see some specific items they’re looking for.
All donations of either automotive related items, or cash, are of course tax deductible with the US IRS. To learn how you can donate your automotive literature to Auto-Archives, you can visit their website. You’ll find lists of what they currently own, specific items they are looking for, and more.
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