The Terms of Use of the National Library

CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The terms of use of the “National library of Belarus” (hereinafter the Rules) has been worked up in accordance with the legislation, Belarussian Code on Culture, the Charter of the state institution “National Library of Belarus”, the “National Library of Belarus” state institution’s policy in terms of the personal data processing (hereinafter referred as the Library) and regulates the relationship between the Library and its users in the field of library, information and bibliographic services.

2. The National Library of Belarus is the state national public library and the national information, social and cultural center. The Library’s collections reflect the information, cultural, educational potential of the society. The Library’s information resources are available to all. Access is restricted to especially rare and important documents with a view of their safety, and also in the cases stipulated by the legislation.

3. The right to gain access to the information resources via the system of the reading rooms is provided to the citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons who are at least 14 years old. In exceptional cases, persons who are under 14 years old are allowed to use the Library’s information resources on condition that they provide a passport and an application from their school’s administration on a letter-headed paper with obligatory justification for the need to use the library’s information resources, as well as in the presence and with the written consent of parents or other legal representatives.

4. Citizens of the Republic of Belarus, foreign citizens and stateless persons are allowed to visit the Library’s Social and Cultural Center. Children under the age of 14 are allowed to cultural and social events only when supervised by adults.

5. Users have access to the Library, information and bibliographic services in the Library’s reading rooms, through interlibrary loan and on the Internet portal.

6. The Library provides social and cultural services by arranging art exhibitions, excursions, educational and sports events etc.

7. The Library provides basic services as follows:

• free of charge advice on book collections and information resources of the Library;
• free of charge advice on information search;
• free of charge delivery of documents from the Library’s collections for temporary use in the reading rooms;
• delivery of documents or their copies by the interlibrary loan;
• access to electronic information resources.

The Library also provides other kinds of services, including paid services according to the “Price List of paid services provided by the state institution National Library of Belarus to individuals and legal entities” (hereinafter –the Price List).

CHAPTER 2
USER REGISTRATION

8. Each registered user gets a library card that provides access to information resources of the Library.

9. For the registration procedure, one of the following identity documents is required: passport, or Belarus residence permit, or refugee card.

Additional required documents:
pupil card – for students of technical and professional colleges;
student card – for university students;
scientist certificate – for research workers; persons with impaired vision and deprived of vision – a certificate of a visually impaired person.

10. A library card is paid. No discount available. In the event that a library card is lost or destroyed (curved, broken, scratched etc), or its chip or barcode are damaged, or in case that a user changes their name, surname or patronymic name, a user gets a duplicate library card. A duplicate card is paid as well.

11. The User is required to familiarise oneself with these Rules and certify his or her agreement to their application by signing their name.

12. Registration of a collective user (legal person) is carried out on the basis of a contract on information and library service provision.

CHAPTER 3
PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING

13. The method used to process personal data is based on the fundamental principles and techniques for developing organisational, technological, and procedural factors to achieve the required level of information security for automated library systems.

14. The collection, systematisation, storage, modification, use, depersonalization, blocking, distribution, presentation, and deletion of personal data are all done in accordance with the Library's personal data processing policy and the Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 7, 2021, No. 99-3 "On Personal Data Protection."

15. If nothing else is specified by the law of the Republic of Belarus, processing of personal data when registering as a library user, issuing passes, and providing services is done without the consent of the personal data subject (paragraph 20 of part 1 of Article 6 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated 07.05.2021 No. 99-3 "On Personal Data Protection," subparagraph 2.2 of paragraph 2 of Article 137 of the Republic of Belarus on Culture).

16. When registering and re-registering a user, the following personal data is entered into the "User Registration" module of the automated library and information system, which are determined in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, local acts, achievement of set goals and include: surname, personal name, patronymic (if any); date of birth; gender; identification number or passport number; data on registration at the place of residence and (or) place of stay; data on education, academic degree, academic title; phone number; place of study (faculty, course, form of study); place of work, position, digital photo portrait.

17. The usage of the user's personal information continues until he exercises his right to have it stopped by submitting an application.

18. Based on the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated 28.11.2013 No. 527 "On the establishment and application of a video surveillance system in the interests of public order," video monitoring is carried out in the library to ensure the safety of users.

19. In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated 01.02.2010 No. 60 "On measures to improve the use of the national segment of the Internet," user information must be stored for a period of one year following the date that Internet services were provided, even if the user requests that the processing of their personal data be stopped.

CHAPTER 4
USER SERVICE

20. A user can visit the Library or access its information resources online.

21. Users visiting the Library have access to a system of reading rooms varied by users’ education and profession, fields of knowledge and kinds of documents.

22. User service is performed in accordance with the given Regulations and other local legal rules defining the interaction between the Library and its users.

23. During the registration, each user gets a consultation on the reading rooms they need.
The General reading room serves general secondary school students, students of technical and professional colleges, university students, and specialists having certificates of secondary, technical and higher education, including holders of bachelor, master, and PhD degrees.
The Specialists’ reading room serves graduating students and certified specialists including bachelors, post-graduates, seekers of a master’s or an academic degree.
The Scientific reading, Interlibrary Loan rooms serve candidates of sciences degree, doctors of sciences, scientists, research workers, heads of university laboratories, heads of university departments, university professors, and also sightless.

The Belarusian literature reading room, the Fine arts reading room, the Music and audio materials reading room serve graduating students of vocational schools and universities and certified specialists, according to a reading room specialization.
The Manuscripts, old printed books and rare books reading room delivers separate kinds of documents (manuscripts, rare books and old printed editions issued before 1830) on the condition that a user has an application drawn up by a research institution.
The Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Room provides services to staff; library users with a scientific degree of candidate or doctor of science, applicants, graduate students, teachers of higher, secondary special and general educational institutions, employees of research institutions, production enterprises engaged in research and development.

24. The provision of service to all categories of users is carried out in the reading rooms of periodicals, legal information, documents of international organizations, reference and information services, interlibrary loan and document delivery, at the exhibition of new arrivals, in the Internet centre, as well as by electronic delivery of documents and the issue of documents from auxiliary collections in all reading rooms of the Library.

25. Documents from the Library’s stock ordered by users are delivered to them upon presentation of their library ticket at delivery desks in corresponding reading rooms, as well as through electronic delivery.
Particular kinds of documents (printed music, electronic, audio-and visual documents, newspapers, etc) ordered from the Library’s stock are sent to a specialized reading room, recommended to the user upon registration:

• visual documents are sent to the Fine arts reading room;
• newspapers are sent to the Periodicals reading room;
• dissertations are sent to the Dissertations reading room;
• printed music and audio-and visual documents, documents on electronic carriers are sent to the Music and audio materials reading room;

26. In the event that a document is not available in the Library, the user can order it from other libraries of Belarus and other countries using the interlibrary loan.

27. Document delivery and paid service cease 15 minutes before the Library’s closing time.

28. The work time of the Library: daily (from 1 September to 31 May):

• Monday – Friday: from 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.;
• Saturday, Sunday: from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m

• Monday – Friday: from 10.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.;
• Saturday: from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.;
• Sunday – the day off

A day before state holidays: from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

The following reading rooms and divisions have a specific work time approved by the Director General of the Library:

• Interlibrary and individual loans;
• Manuscripts, rare books and old printed books reading room;
• Recent acquisitions reading room;
• Book Museum
• Library excursion division
• Children’s Room
• Fitness Center
• Observation deck
• Library tours

29. The Library doesn’t work on state holidays and on Easter Day (both Orthodox and Catholic) and on sanitary days (last Monday of a month).

30. In exceptional cases (governmental actions, functional disorders of information and engineering systems, etc.) the Library can change its work time. Notifications on any change are to be placed in advance on the Library’s Internet portal and information boards.

31. Virtual user service is carried out mainly through the library’s Internet portal (www.nlb.by), social network pages and other web-services.

CHAPTER 5
USERS’ RIGHTS

32. Users of the Library have a right to:

• visit the Library according to its work time;
• borrow documents from the Library’s stocks and use them in appropriate reading rooms;
• get information about documents stored in the Library’s stocks through the system of catalogs, card indexes, databases and other library information sources;
• get a consultation on information sources search and document ordering;
• get access to national and world databases and Internet information resources;
• obtain documents or their copies by interlibrary loan, including through electronic document delivery system;
• get the free one-time library ticket to visit the Library in the event that the permanent library ticket is unavailable at the moment. The one-time library ticket is provided up to 5 times a year;
• extend the loan period for borrowed documents on condition that their safety is guaranteed by the user and they are not requested by other users at the moment;
• bring notebooks placed in special bags or in an inventory basket delivered at the Library’s cloakroom;
• bring in the Library musical instruments in cases;
• visit events and classes held by the Library for its users;
• leave minor children at the Library’s Children’s Room when visiting the Library;
• get other kinds of services, including paid services;
• apply to the Library administration with suggestions and make complaints about user service.

CHAPTER 6
USER’S DUTIES

33. Users of the Library must:

• observe the Standard rules of use and other legal acts of the Library;
• observe the work time of the Library;
• do the compulsory user re-registration every five years in conformity with the terms defined by the Library. Users refusing the re-registration have no access to the Library services;
• notify employees of the User registration section of any change in user’s published data, loss or stealing of the library ticket or the one-time ticket promptly;
• return the one-time ticket (paragraph 8 of article 32) to the User registration section, in case of its loss or damage make entitlement payment.
• leave overcoat, hats, notebook bags at the cloakroom;
• leave umbrellas, bags, briefcases and other objects which size exceeds 30х30х20 cm at the locker;
• provide for examination at the check-out counter bags, writing-books, cases, music instrument cases and other objects before bringing them in the Library;
• use with care borrowed documents and other property of the Library;
• notify a librarian in case of detection of any damages in borrowed documents;
• keep silence, order and cleanness in the Library’s premises;
• be respectful to employees and visitors of the Library;
• in case of emergency (fire, accident, terrorist attack etc.) follow the directions of employees of the Library, security services and emergency management teams.

34. Forbidden:

• passing the user’s library ticket to other persons or using another user’s library ticket;
• taking documents away of the Library, excluding the documents taken in the Interlibrary or individual Loans with a library card;
• bringing to the Library any printed materials (books, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, graphic materials, printed music etc.), video equipment, extension cords and network filter, pircing and cutting objects;
• entering the reading rooms with preschool and junior school children;
• wearing untidy clothing in the Library;
• attend the library while under the influence of alcohol, drug, psychotropic, or poisonous medications;
• bringing animals to the Library, except for sightless and visually impaired persons with guide dogs; 
• damaging documents (tearing off or cutting off pages, making notes, underlining, tracing drawings and maps, writing on sheets of paper placed over a document, repairing the documents without assistance, etc);
• making notes on catalog cards or taking them out of catalog boxes;
• taking documents borrowed by other users without permission;
• taking documents belonging to the Library to cafes, smoking-rooms and washrooms;
• taking food and colourful beverages in the reading rooms;
• unless photography is being done for a fee in accordance with the Price List, utilise mobile phones, cameras, and other technological devices to videotape and photograph documents from the Library collections and information from monitor screens;
  
• leave linked to the library's power grid unattended technological gadgets (personal laptops, cell phones, etc.) for operation or charging;
  
• performing system operations inside the Library’s computer network, reinstalling software, unplugging technique, deleting and editing files created by other users;
• placing advertisements, posters or other materials, doing commercial activity inside the Library without permission;
• breaking the rules of public conduct;
• smoking inside the Library, except of the smoking rooms.

CHAPTER 7
USER’S RESPONSIBILITY

35. Users damaging documents or other property of the Library (computers, office equipment, furniture, electrical equipment, etc) are to pay damages in conformity with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

36. Users violating public order, disrespecting the staff and other users of the Library, are liable in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses.

37. For non-observance of the current Regulations, the user can be temporarily banned from the Library for the period up to one year.

CHAPTER 8
THE LIBRARY’S RIGHTS AND DUTIES

38. The Library has a right to:

• make supplements and changes to the current Regulations in accordance with the established procedure;
• to define use conditions and access mode of documents from the Library’s stocks and other information resources;
• to define the amount of indemnity for damages caused by users in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus;
• to set a term of banning (one month, three months, half a year, one year) to users having broken the current Regulations.

39. The Library must:

• develop information resources, provide their safekeeping and rational use in conformity with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus in the field of librarianship and the Charter of the public institution “The National Library of Belarus”;
• provide adequate conditions of work to users;
• provide a high-level user service;
• keep all users’ personal information confidential;
• inform users on:
  • any changes to the current Regulations;
  • any changes to the work time of the Library;
  • all kinds of services provided by the Library.