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(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 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. Based on the above authority the Library Board of Rhode Island last adopted LORI Standards in 2003.

2. The Library Board of Rhode Island and Chief of Library Services now propose to develop a new set of LORI Standards that is consistent with current practices and national standards for resource sharing.

3. To become and remain a member of LORI, a library must meet all of the Library of Rhode Island Standards and Regulations.

4. Rhode Island libraries must be members of the LORI in good standing in order to be eligible for OLIS-LORI Delivery and other resource sharing services supported by OLIS.

A. “Business days” means days on which the library is open for service, excluding Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

B. “Clientele” means patrons registered with a particular library and have all privileges that are associated with such registration.

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

D. “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.

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

F. “LORI Liaison” means the library staff member appointed by the library director to serve as the primary resource sharing contact between the library and OLIS.

G. “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.

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

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

A. The library operates according to relevant federal, state and local laws.

B. The library has qualified paid staff to manage the collection and provide access to it, with a minimum of one professional librarian who holds a master's degree in library and information science from a graduate school accredited by the American Library Association.

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 will make these policies publicly available to other LORI libraries online.

D. The library has consistent hours of service.

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 will 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. Each LORI library director will designate paid staff member(s) to serve in the following roles: LORI Liaison, Interlibrary Loan Contact and Delivery Contact. A single qualified staff member may be assigned more than one role.

1. The LORI Liaison’s responsibilities are to:

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

b. Oversee all LORI operations in the library;

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

d. Inform OLIS of personnel changes in the positions of LORI Liaison, Interlibrary Loan Contact and Delivery Contact;

e. Keep apprised of information distributed by OLIS through the LORI website and email, and communicate such information to appropriate library staff;

f. Report annually to OLIS the statistical information requested in LORI Certification; and ensure that an accurate and timely OLIS-LORI Delivery Items Count is carried out by the library at the request of OLIS and more often as required.

2. The Interlibrary Loan Contact’s responsibilities are to:

a. Ensure that all resource sharing activities are completed in a timely manner;

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

c. Follow all local and LORI Interlibrary Loan procedures and the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code.

3. The Delivery Contact’s responsibilities are to:

a. Conduct OLIS-LORI Delivery Item Counts when scheduled by OLIS;

b. Ensure that the library follows all OLIS procedures for the preparation of materials for delivery and use of OLIS-LORI Delivery bins; and

c. Report instances of damage or vendor-related incidents.

J. LORI Libraries will complete the LORI Certification every year as administered by OLIS.

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.

2. Although aiming primarily to define interlibrary loan within LORI, the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code is designed to mesh with protocols and agreements in effect in the United States. Accordingly, this Code follows, whenever possible, the precedents of the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States (as adopted by ALA in 1994, revised 2001). In the spirit of that document, this code acknowledges that 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 on 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. In other words, an entire category 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 urged to seek interlibrary loan privileges for digital 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 usual 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 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 fines.

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.

C. No LORI library may suspend requesting privileges to another LORI library it considers to be in violation of the LORI Interlibrary Loan Code or LORI Standards without consulting OLIS.

D. If it is determined that a library is not in compliance with any of the LORI Standards, the Chief of Library Services will investigate and render a written decision within six weeks of that determination.

E. 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.

F. The appeal will be heard by the Library Board of Rhode Island at its regular meeting or within six weeks of the appeal whichever comes first.

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

A. The forgoing standards and regulations, titled "Library of Rhode Island Standards and Regulations," after due notice, are hereby adopted and filed with the Secretary of State to become effective twenty (20) days from filing, unless otherwise indicated below. In accordance with the provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws § 29-6 through 9 and in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35, as amended. Once the rules take effect, they supersede any other rules that prescribe LORI Standards for Rhode Island Libraries.