Lending Rules
When you sign a Lending Undertaking, you are making a contract with the National Library. If you do not comply with our Lending Rules, your privileges may be suspended. We have the right to change the rules without notice during the term of the agreement.
The National Library allows physical persons to borrow materials for reading room and circulating loans. Companies or organizations must be represented by a physical person. To request and borrow materials, you must also be a registered National Library patron and of legal age. If you are in the Swedish population registry, you must state your home address in Sweden and be able to show a passport or other form of valid photo ID.
If you are not registered in Sweden, you must also state your home address abroad. If you are not registered in Sweden, you may not check out books or other materials. If you are staying in Sweden for more than three months, you may check out materials if you have a guarantor. You must notify Circulation if your address changes. If you want to pick up materials for someone else, you must be able to show ID and a written authorization.
You will receive a library card after you sign the Lending Undertaking. You must always have your card with you when you request or borrow materials. You are responsible for all loans on your card until we have registered the materials as returned. If you lose your library card, you must immediately report the loss to the Information and Circulation Desk. You are responsible for all loans against the card until you notify us of the loss. You will be charged a fee for a new library card.
You must handle all materials in our collections with care. You are not allowed to make notes, underlines, or any other marks on the material. You may not use paper clips, self-adhesive notes, or tape, put your hands or arms on pictures or text, or use the material as a writing base. You are responsible for any damage to materials you borrow from the library collections or through interlibrary loans.
Requests
Most of library's holdings are stored in closed stacks and must be requested. You may request materials in our library catalog Regina or on a special form.
Duplication
You are not allowed to scan or duplicate library materials yourself. This rule is meant to protect materials from damage. Our staff at Reprographic Services can help you duplicate materials from the Swedish Collections. Please see the Price List. You may photocopy materials on open access shelves in the Reference Library, home loans, and foreign periodicals. You must use the special copy machine for the purpose. You may also make duplicates from microfilm.
Photography of library materials is permitted without flash. The exception is the Special Reading Room where photography is prohibited.
You are responsible for how you use the duplicated material. Check whether the requested material is protected by the Swedish Act on Copyright in Literary and Artistic Works.
Maintain Order
Do not change the order of documents in capsules and volumes. Do not remove loose sheets from their protective covers. If individual sheets are supplied in plastic pockets, you must leave them in the pockets throughout the loan period. If you find uncut material, you must give it to the Information and Circulation Desk so that we can take care of it. If there is a bar code label on a slip, it must still be with the material when the loan is returned.
You may borrow material from the Swedish Collection only as a reading room loan. This includes literature in Swedish, published in Sweden, or translated from Swedish to a foreign language, as well as literature related to Sweden, Swedes, or Swedish conditions.
The same rule applies to foreign literature printed before 1900 and foreign literature considered particularly valuable or fragile, as well as foreign periodicals and pamphlets.
You may study the material in the Main Reading Room or the Periodical Reading Room. You must return it the same day. We can hold borrowed materials for you at the Information and Circulation Desk for a limited time. Our staff will determine how many volumes you may borrow per day and always have the right to demand return of a Reading Room loan after 14 days. Special rules apply to people with book lockers.
Much of our foreign literature not included in the Swedish Collection is available for check-out as a home loan. The maximum loan period is three months. We may demand return of a loan after 14 days. If we do, you must return the material immediately. You are responsible for this even if you happen to be away from home at the time. If the book is returned by mail, it must be carefully packaged. You may not take books borrowed from the National Library out of Sweden. You are required by the terms of your Lending Agreement to allow the security guard posted at the library exit to inspect the materials you have borrowed.
You may study certain requested materials from our collections in the Special Reading Room if you show your library card and ID. You may not take the works you pick up from the Special Reading Room Desk out of the room. If you would like to take a short break, you must check with an employee first. We can hold borrowed material for you at the desk for a limited time. If you want to study "blocked" materials, you must have special permission from the section manager.
Careful Handling
If you wish to make notes on your own writing materials, you must use pencil. When you study photographs and postcards, you must wear cotton gloves. Photographic material must always be placed on surfaces with the picture side up. If you want to study fragile material, we may require supervision by a library employee.
If you do not return a borrowed book after receiving a return notice, you will be charged for the value of the book plus a processing fee. The fee covers the charges for handling return notices (such as postage) and for searching for the book, appraising its value, and suspending your library privileges. We will send one return notice and a bill. We also charge for payment reminders (collection costs). If you do not pay the bill, we will turn it over to the Swedish Debt Enforcement Service for collection.
In some cases, the National Library can order materials from other libraries to supplement loans from our collections. Interlibrary Loans inside the Nordic region are free. There is a charge for interlibrary loans from other countries. If the interlibrary loan consists of copies, there is always a fee.
You may apply for a book locker, according to special rules, at the Information and Circulation Desk. The lockers are located in the Research Reading Room.
If you do not comply with our rules, your privileges may be suspended. Suspensions may be appealed.
