A. Authority

1. Pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 29-6-9, establishing the Rhode Island Library network, in order to provide each individual in Rhode Island with equal opportunity of access to resources that will satisfy their and society's information needs and interests, the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) is hereby authorized to establish a Rhode Island Library network, hereafter referred to as the Library of Rhode Island network (LORI), to be administered by the Office of Library and Information Services for the purpose of maintaining, promoting, and developing a program of statewide resource sharing and interlibrary cooperation.

2. Pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 29-3.1-4.1(b)(3) and 29-3.1-4.1(b)(7)(ii), the Library Board of Rhode Island is authorized to approve, adopt and require enforcement of standards and regulations for public library development and other purposes.

3. The Library Board of Rhode Island will review the Library of Rhode Island Standards and Regulations no more than five years after they are filed. At that time the Library Board of Rhode Island will determine the need for revision of the existing Standards and Regulations or the need for new ones.

B. Purpose

1. The purpose of the regulation is to provide Rhode Island residents with equal opportunity of access to library resources for their information and learning needs through a statewide program of resource sharing via interlibrary loan. Any public library, academic library, or school library, as well as state agency libraries, state institutions with libraries, or any other special libraries, may apply to participate in the program, known as the Library of Rhode Island (LORI).

2. In order to be eligible for library delivery and other resource sharing services, Rhode Island libraries must be members of LORI and meet all requirements of these regulations.

A. “Academic library” means a library that is part of a public or private higher education institution.

B. “Business hours” means hours on which the library is open for service to clientele.

C. “Collection” means the materials in all formats that the library owns or to which it provides access, through either purchase or lease.

D. “Collection development” means the ongoing, systematic process of assessing need, selecting materials, eliminating outdated materials, and building and maintaining a library collection in response to institutional priorities and community or user needs and interests.

E. “Clientele” means patrons registered with or served by a particular library and who have all privileges that are associated with such registration or affiliation, or, in the case of a school library, the students enrolled at that school and the faculty or staff engaged in teaching those students.

F. “FTE” means a full time equivalent equal to a person who works a minimum of thirty-five (35) hours per week and may be composed of more than one person's time.

G. “Interlibrary loan” means a service whereby a patron of a library can borrow materials or receive copies of documents that are owned by another library.

H. “Librarian” means an individual who holds a master's degree in library and information science from a graduate school accredited by the American Library Association (ALA), or a master’s degree from a program at an institution in another country whose formal accreditation process is recognized by ALA, or a master’s degree program recognized by an official division of ALA.

I. “Library” means a permanent, dedicated space that includes an organized collection of materials, technology, reader and study/research spaces, paid staff to provide services and an established schedule in which services of the staff are available.

J. “Library director” means a librarian who is responsible for all library operations.

K. “Library of Rhode Island (LORI)” means a multi-type statewide library network administered by the Office of Library and Information Services to foster and facilitate collaboration among member libraries.

L. “Loan period” means the circulation period for loaned materials, inclusive of transit time.

M. “OLIS-LORI Delivery” means the interlibrary delivery service which transports materials between LORI member libraries. This contracted service is managed by the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) and paid for by the State of Rhode Island.

N. “Population” means the population of the city/town (or combined cities/towns) according to the most recent census.

O. “Public library” means a library established under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 29-4 to serve a community or municipality and is supported in whole or in part with public funds.

P. “Requesting library” means the library which originates an interlibrary loan request.

Q. “School library” means a library that is part of a public, charter, or private school serving students in kindergarten through grade 12.

R. “Special library” means a library that provides specialized information resources on a particular subject, serves a specialized or limited clientele, or supports the mission of its funding organization with collections and services that are targeted and specific to the needs of that organization.

S. “Supplying library” means the owner of materials supplied to the requesting library.

A. The library operates according to relevant federal, state and local laws. Public libraries shall meet the requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws §29-6-3 and institutional libraries shall meet the requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws §29-6-8.

B. The library is staffed by a librarian or librarians who develop and manage the collection, provide access to the collection for the institution’s clientele during business hours, and manage interlibrary loan functions as follows:

1. Public libraries serving cities or towns with a population under 10,000 must have the librarian(s) assigned these duties present one-half of the time during business hours;

2. Public libraries serving cities or towns with a population of 10,000 to 19,999 must have a one-half FTE librarian assigned these duties;

3. Public libraries serving cities or towns with a population of 20,000 and higher must have one FTE librarian and additional trained staff per Minimum Standards and Regulations for Rhode Island Public Libraries (220-RICR-60-15-02);

4. School libraries must be staffed and maintained by a librarian who executes or oversees these duties during business hours;

5. Academic libraries must have a one-half FTE librarian and additional trained staff assigned these duties during business hours;

6. Special libraries must be staffed and maintained by one FTE librarian who executes or oversees these duties during business hours.

C. The library has written policy or policies which are approved by the library’s governing body and address library to library relationships in the following areas:

1. An interlibrary loan policy that complies with the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code and adheres to that code consistently and without discrimination and which provides justification for what materials will not be loaned to those outside of the library’s clientele. This policy cannot be in conflict with the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code.

2. A service policy which defines the library’s clientele and their access to the library’s collections and services.

3. To satisfy policy requirements a library may refer to its consortium’s policy, or policies, as long as those policies comply with the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code.

4. The library must make these policies publicly available to other LORI libraries online.

D. The library has consistent hours of service.

1. Public libraries must be open in accordance with the Minimum Standards and Regulations for Rhode Island Public Libraries (220-RICR-60-15-02);

2. School libraries must be open to their clientele as a library and staffed by a librarian no less than one half of the time during the average school week;

3. Academic libraries must be open to their clientele as a library and staffed by a librarian no less than 35 hours per week;

4. Special libraries must be open to their clientele as a library and staffed by a librarian no less than twenty-one (21) hours per week.

E. The library has a public web presence on which it posts its contact information, hours of service, and its interlibrary loan and service policies. If the library is not open to the public, the policy should be stated on the website.

F. The library has its bibliographic holdings online in a standard library format.

G. The library does not charge usage fees to other LORI libraries for reference services and the loan of library materials.

H. Personnel responsible for interlibrary loan in each library will be familiar with LORI Standards, the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code, and other relevant interlibrary loan codes, policies and procedures.

I. The library director is responsible for or will designate paid staff to execute the following tasks:

1. Serve as the primary resource sharing contact between the library and OLIS;

2. Oversee all LORI operations in the library;

3. Inform OLIS of any library operations that may affect or interrupt interlibrary loan or delivery services;

4. Inform OLIS of personnel changes that may affect interlibrary loan or delivery services;

5. Keep apprised of resource sharing information distributed by OLIS through the OLIS website, email or listservs, and communicate such information to appropriate library staff;

6. Complete surveys and respond to information requests from OLIS in an accurate and timely manner; surveys include the annual LORI Certification; the biannual OLIS-LORI Delivery Items Count; and, as applicable, the annual School Library Survey.

7. Ensure that all resource sharing activities are completed in a timely manner and that the library follows all OLIS procedures for the preparation of materials for delivery and use of OLIS-LORI delivery bins;

8. Report all instances of damage or vendor-related incidents to OLIS within forty-eight (48) hours;

9. Communicate with other LORI libraries in matters relevant to resource sharing; and

10. Follow LORI Interlibrary Loan Procedures and the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code.

A. Introduction

1. Interlibrary loan is a service whereby a patron of one library can borrow materials or receive copies of documents that are owned by another library. Interlibrary loan service is essential to the vitality of libraries of all types and sizes as a means of greatly expanding the range of materials available to patrons. Sharing between all libraries is in the public interest and should be encouraged. Library of Rhode Island (LORI) members should make their interlibrary loan policies as liberal and as easy to apply as possible. Interlibrary loan should serve as an adjunct to and not a substitute for collection development.

B. Scope

1. Any type of library material, including digital content, may be requested for loan or in copy form from another library in accordance with existing interlibrary loan procedures. The supplying library has the discretion of deciding in individual instances whether a specific item can be provided, and whether the original or a copy can be sent.

2. If a category of material (e.g., books, CDs, magazines, DVDs, journals) is generally available to library clientele, it must be made generally available by Interlibrary Loan. Entire categories of generally available material cannot be excluded from Interlibrary Loan availability specifically because of its format type. However, as noted in § 3.4(B)(1) of this Part, any individual item may be excluded from Interlibrary Loan availability based upon item-specific criteria.

3. The interlibrary lending of digital content is often constrained by vendor license agreements. The LORI Standards do not compel libraries to violate vendor agreements. However, when negotiating vendor agreements LORI libraries are encouraged to seek interlibrary loan privileges for digital or leased content.

C. Responsibilities of Requesting Libraries

1. Access to interlibrary loan does not relieve any library of the responsibility of developing its own collection. Each library will make every effort to provide the resources to meet the reasonable needs of its patrons.

2. Requested material should be described completely and accurately following accepted bibliographic practices.

3. The requesting library is responsible for borrowed materials from the time the material leaves the supplying library until it has been returned to and received by the supplying library.

4. If damage or loss occurs, the requesting library will provide compensation or replacement, in accordance with the preference of the supplying library.

5. Each library will exercise due diligence for the return or replacement of materials supplied through a patron initiated request.

6. For copy requests, each library will comply with the Copyrights Act, 17 U.S.C. and its accompanying guidelines.

7. Requesting libraries will honor the supplying library’s loan period, including any deviations from the standard loan period, and enforce any use restrictions specified by the supplying library. The material should be returned to the supplying library at the end of the loan period.

8. A renewal request should be submitted prior to the end of the loan period. The supplying library will grant or deny the request within three business days. If the supplying library fails to respond, the loan period will be automatically extended.

9. Loaned material is subject to recall at any time.

D. Responsibilities of Supplying Libraries

1. The supplying library will be as unrestrictive as possible with regard to its resource sharing policies and in a manner that is consistent with its service policy.

2. Supplying libraries will process requests within three (3) business days.

3. Any conditions of the loan, including the loan period, restrictions on the use of the material, and special packaging or shipping requirements, will be provided by the supplying library.

4. When filling requests, the supplying library should send sufficient information with each item to identify the request to the requesting library.

5. The duration of loan is determined by the supplying library's policy with additional time allowed for transit. If not specified, the duration of loan is assumed to be six weeks inclusive of transit time.

6. If a requested item is in disrepair or damaged, the supplying library should include a condition note when sending the item.

E. Confidentiality

1. Interlibrary loan transactions are confidential.

2. Library staff are responsible for safeguarding confidentiality of patron information. Library staff must adhere to state laws regarding the confidentiality of information identifying individuals who borrow library materials, including R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-18-32.

3. Library staff should not publicly divulge the identity of the individual borrowing the material if a patron name is provided.

4. Library staff must maintain patron confidentiality when posting requests for assistance or using the text of interlibrary loan requests as procedural examples.

5. Each library must have a policy that follows all laws regarding retention of interlibrary loan records.

F. Fees

1. No library will charge another library an interlibrary loan transaction fee.

2. A supplying library will not charge a requesting library overdue fine.

A. Failure to comply with LORI Standards at any time may result in suspension or termination of OLIS-LORI Delivery Services and suspension or termination of access to resource sharing services provided by OLIS.

B. Any LORI library's perceived failure to comply with these Standards may be brought to the attention of the Chief of Library Services by the requesting or supplying library by completing the Report of Alleged Non-Compliance with LORI Standards.

C. The Chief of Library Services will investigate and render a written decision within six weeks of the receipt of any complaint.

D. If it is determined that a library is not in compliance with any of the LORI Standards, the library may appeal the decision of the Chief of Library Services to the Library Board of Rhode Island by sending a letter of appeal to the Chair of the Library Board of Rhode Island with a copy to the Chief of Library Services. The letter must be sent within four weeks of the decision.

E. The appeal is subject to the Rhode Island Administrative Procedures Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35-1, et seq., and shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Administrative Hearings provided in 220-RICR-50-10-2 by the Library Board of Rhode Island at its regular meeting or within six weeks of the appeal, whichever comes first.

F. Written response to the appeal will be sent to the library within two weeks of the appeal hearing.

G. No LORI library may suspend requesting privileges to another LORI library it considers to be in violation of the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code of LORI Standards without the express written permission of the Chief of Library Services.

A. If any section, term, or provision of this regulation should be adjudged invalid for any reason, that judgment should not affect, impair, or invalidate any remaining section, term, or provision, which shall remain in full force and effect.