[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR701.6]

[Page 63-64]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
                    CHAPTER VII--LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
 
PART 701--PROCEDURES AND SERVICES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 701.6  Service of the general collections.

    (a) Requests for materials in the general classified collections are 
submitted by readers on forms provided for that purpose. Available 
materials so requested are located and delivered to readers by the 
staff. Subject to specified limitations, materials may be reserved for 
continued use. Access to the bookstacks is permitted only under 
regulations established by the Librarian of Congress.
    (b) Definitions. (1) Security means administration of continuing, 
effective controls in areas where materials are housed for the purpose 
of preprocessing or processing, storage, access, or use. These controls 
are designed to safeguard against theft, loss, misplacement, or damage 
from improper use or vandalism and may vary as appropriate to the 
quality, monetary value, replaceability, fragility, or other special or 
unusual conditions relating to the materials concerned.
    (2) Library material means:
    (i) Items in all formats (including, but not limited to, books and 
pamphlets; documents; manuscripts; maps; microfiche, microfilms, and 
other microforms; motion pictures, photographs, posters, prints, 
drawings, videotapes, and other visual materials; newspapers and 
periodicals; recorded discs, tapes, or audio/video/digital materials in 
other formats) either in the collections of the Library of Congress or 
acquired for and in process for the Library's collections;
    (ii) Objects such as musical instruments, printing blocks, copper 
engraving plates, paintings, and scrolls, and
    (iii) Control files, which are manual or automated files essential 
to the physical or intellectual access to Library materials, such as 
catalogs, computer tapes, finding aids, and shelflists. These include 
items that are acquired as an integral part of Library materials and are 
accessioned into the collections with them permanent inventory records, 
public catalogs, and other finding aids.
    (3) Security-controlled environment means, but is not limited to: 
general and special reading rooms and research facilities where 
materials are issued under controlled circumstances for use of readers; 
the bookstacks and other storage facilities where materials are housed 
when not in use; and work areas where materials are held temporarily for 
processing.
    (c) General policy for use of Library materials. Materials retrieved 
for readers' use shall be used only in assigned reading rooms or 
research facilities. Use elsewhere in Library buildings requires 
specific authorization from designated staff members of the custodial 
unit. Use of materials assigned to reference collections shall be in 
accordance with established regulations. To minimize the risk of theft, 
loss, or damage when the materials are removed from designated storage 
areas, the conditions of availability and use will vary as appropriate 
to the quality of materials, their monetary value, replaceability, 
format, physical condition, and the purpose for which they are to be 
circulated--reader use within the Library, exhibits, preservation, 
photoduplication, or loan outside the Library. Unless otherwise 
specified by Library regulations, and/or legal or contractual 
obligations, the conditions and procedures for use of materials, 
including duplication, either inside or outside of the Library 
buildings, shall be determined by or in consultation

[[Page 64]]

with the unit head responsible for the custody of the material used.
    (1) Any material removed from the security-controlled environment of 
a reading room or storage area, and meeting the established criteria 
must be charged as an internal or external loan through the Loan 
Division, in accordance with established loan regulations. The security 
of in-process material, and special collections material not meeting the 
criteria of these regulations, is the responsibility of the division 
chief or equivalent Library officer with physical control of the 
material. That division shall determine whether or not a Loan Division 
internal charge must be created when an item is removed for use. If a 
Loan Division record is not created, the division shall create and 
maintain a local record until the item is returned.
    (2) When the period of use is completed, all materials shall be 
returned immediately to the custodial unit to be placed in designated 
shelf or other locations in assigned storage areas. Charge records for 
the returned materials shall be removed from the charge files.
    (d) Penalties. Readers who violate established conditions and/or 
procedures for using material are subject to penalties to be determined 
by or in consultation with the unit head responsible for the custody of 
the material used.
    (1) When a reader violates a condition and/or procedure for using 
material, the division chief or head of the unit where the infraction 
occurred may, upon written notification, deny further access to the 
material, or to the unit in which it is housed, to be determined by the 
nature of the infraction and the material involved.
    (2) Within five workdays of receipt of such notification, the reader 
may make a written request, including the reasons for such request to 
the Associate Librarian for that service unit, or his/her designee, for 
a reconsideration of said notification.
    (3) The Associate Librarian for that service unit, or his/her 
designee, shall respond within five workdays of receipt of such request 
for reconsideration and may rescind, modify, or reaffirm said 
notification, as appropriate.
    (4) Repeated violations of established conditions and/or procedures 
for using material may result in denial of further access to the 
premises and further use of the Library's facilities or revocation of 
the reader's User Card, in accordance with established access 
regulations.
    (5) Mutilation or theft of Library property also may result in 
criminal prosecution, as set forth in 18 U.S.C. 641, 1361, and 2071; and 
22 D.C. Code 3106.
    (6) In certain emergency situations requiring prompt action, the 
division chief or head of the unit where the infraction occurred 
immediately may deny further access to the material or unit prior to 
making written notification action. In such cases, the reader shall be 
notified, in writing, within three days of the action taken and the 
reasons therefor. The reader then may request reconsideration.
    (7) A copy of any written notification delivered pursuant to this 
part shall be forwarded to the Captain, Library Police, the service 
unit, and the Director, Integrated Support Services, for retention.

[35 FR 10588, June 30, 1970. Redesignated at 38 FR 27049, Sept. 28, 
1973, and amended at 51 FR 22073, June 18, 1986; 60 FR 34853, July 5, 
1995]