4. Norms set for discharging the Functions

 RULES FOR USING READING ROOMS
 1.
The Reading Rooms at Bhasha Bhavan and at the second floor of Annexe Building remain open on all working days between 9 am and 8 pm and between 9.30 am and 6 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays as notified by the Library. The supply of books/documents stops one hour before the closing time. The Old Newspaper Reading Room at Esplanade remains open on all days between 9.30 am to 6 pm including Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays as notified by the Library. The supply of books/documents at the Annexe Reading Room and the Old Newspaper Reading Room at Esplanade is not made on holidays. Books are supplied at these Reading Room between 9.30 am and 5 pm on working days. Hence books/documents, which are reserved on the last working day at the Annexe Reading Room and the Old Newspaper Reading Room at Esplanade are available to users for consultation on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The Reading Rooms remain entirely closed on (i) Republic Day (26 January), (ii) Independence Day (15 August), (iii) Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (2 October) and other holidays as and when notified by the Government of India.
 2.
Admission to the Reading Rooms is free to all persons not less than 18 years of age and holding Reading Room cards.
 3.
Reading Room card is issued on applying in the prescribed form, along with two stamp size recent photographs and on producing suitable references*. In the case of students, recommendations of the principal/professor/head of department will be required.
4. 
The Reading Room card is not transferable and is valid for three years from the date of issue. In case the card is lost a duplicate card may be issued to the reader on his/her applying in such a manner as may be deemed fit by the competent authority and on payment of a fee of Rs.10 along with one stamp size recent photograph. The reader shall be responsible for any misuse of his/her lost card. A fresh application complete with all details as provided in the prescribed form along with two stamp size recent photograph will be necessary for the renewal of the expired Library card.
5. 
For a certified copy from a gazette, newspaper, etc. (supplied in restricted number of pages) a fee of Rs 10/- per typed page shall be charged.
6.
Persons wishing to make use of the Reading Room for a brief period will be admitted on the grant of a 'day card', which will hold good for the day of issue.
7. 
Cards shall be shown at the gate and, if required, to authorised staff members.
8. 
Special assigned seats are made available to limited number of users selected on the basis of criteria laid down by the Head of the Department.
9. 
Tracing from books and other reading materials is not allowed. 
10. 
A reader is issued a maximum of 4 (four) documents at a time for consultation. Readers are required to submit their reading room cards at the issue counter for getting the document(s) issued against their names before consulting the same at the Reading Rooms.
11. 
The issued document(s) are reserved on request for a maximum of seven days including the date of issue.
12. 
Publications, which, owing to their bulky size or brittle condition of the pages or for any other reason, cannot be safely issued for consultation at the Reading Rooms, may be supplied only at the discretion of the concerned Assistant Library & Information Officer (ALIO).
13. 
Photography inside the Reading Rooms is not allowed.
14. 
Mobile phones must be switched off inside the Reading Rooms.
15. 
Umbrellas, sticks, parcels, and other personal belongings, should not be taken into the Reading Rooms. These may be deposited at the property counter at the entrance of the Library building. Readers are not allowed to take their own books, photocopies, laptop, etc. into the Reading Rooms without prior permission of the concerned ALIO.
16. 
Cases of long delay in the supply of books requisitioned, shall be brought to the notice of the concerned ALIO.
17. 
Persons found marking/mutilating the pages of books/periodicals or otherwise damaging them shall have to make good the loss. They may be debarred from using the Reading Rooms in future and additionally appropriate penal action may be initiated against such persons.
18. 
Any change of address during the validity of the Reading Room cards should be notified to the ALIO, Reading Rooms, immediately.
19. 
The readers must abide by all the rules, regulations and other norms as implemented from time to time by the Library. Readers found violating any of these rule, or misbehaving in any way, or disturbing other readers by conversation or otherwise, shall not be allowed to remain in the Reading Room, and their cards are liable to forfeiture.
* Footnotes to Rule 3 : The undermentioned persons are eligible to get Reading Room Cards in their own names without producing any reference. These persons can recommend others for the same purpose. It is to be understood that no recommendation shall be made except on behalf of a person personally known to the recommender.
 1.
Members of the Central and State Legislature;
2.
Councillors, Aldermen and the CEO of the Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporations;
3.
Elected members of the Panchayat
4.
Municipal Commissioners;
5.
Advocates and Solicitors; 
6.
Fellows of Universities;
7.
Teaching staff of the colleges / universities (in case of students only);
8.
Gazetted Officers;
9.
Head Master of recognised High School (for teachers working under them only);
 10.
Editors of leading dailies and journals;
11.
Registered Medical Practitioners;
12.
Managers and proprietors of firms of known repute (for their employees only) ;
13.
Permanent members of the staff of the National Library ;
14.
Members of the Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education ;
15.
Members of recognised professional associations of repute;
16.
Senior officials at Embassies/High Commissions or Head of the Departments or Guides at respective universities/institutes for foreign nationals/students/scholars.
NB: The competent authority reserves the right to relax the rules as and when deemed necessary.
RULES FOR THE ISSUE OF BOOKS ON LOAN
 1.
The Lending Section remains open on all working days from 9 am to 8 pm and from 9.30 am to 6 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays notified by the Library. The Lending Section remains entirely closed on (i) Republic Day (26 January), (ii) Independence Day (15 August), (iii) Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday (2 October) and other holidays, as and when notified by Government of India.
2.

Books will be lent to members of the public not less than eighteen years of age on their depositing as security a lump sum of money enough to cover the value of books lent or even a higher amount, if the nature of the book(s) lent so demands. The deposit money must always be paid in advance. Only two books which are known to be in print will be lent out.

Note.:-- In calculating the price of foreign publications lent to the borrowers the Lending Section will be guided by instructions issued from time to time by the Head of the Departments on the basis of current market value of foreign exchange. The price of a book calculated for purposes of issue on loan will be 30 per cent higher than the official rate in case of foreign publication and 50 per cent higher in case of Indian publication.
3.

The minimum amount acceptable as security is Rs. 200.00 (two hundred rupees only) and in the case of additional deposit the minimum amount acceptable is Rs. 50.00 (Rupees fifty only) or multiples there of. Borrowers are requested transact money not more than five occasions.

Note : Borrowers are requested to preserve deposit receipt for refund.
4.
The refund of security money shall be governed by rules specially framed for the purpose. 
5.
 Books required by Government Departments for official use and by recognised institutions are issued without any deposit. The Library also provides facilities for inter library loan. Such loan shall be subject to instructions issued from time to time by the Head of the Departments.
6.
Book(s) that for the time being forms part of the Reference Collection in the Reading Rooms or any book valuable for its rarity, its illustration or otherwise shall be not be lent out without the special permission of the Head of the Department.
7.
Periodicals journals, Indian official documents, foreign official documents, newspaper, non-book materials and gift collections as well as books which cannot bear the strain of transit are not lent out. Manuscripts are not lent out. 
8.
No person shall have in his/her possession more than two works or six volumes.
9.
Books are lent out for two weeks. The period may be extended on request. However no book shall be retained by the borrower for more than one month at a stretch. Books lent can be called back before the expiry of due date.
10.
The cost of the carriage of books from and to Kolkata shall be borne by the borrower. Books are supplied by VPP in case of postal delivery.
11.
A book lost or damaged by a borrower shall have to be replaced by him/her. If a book is not replaced or returned after a due notice is served, such compensation therefore would be three times more than the actual cost of the book. The lending facility would be withdrawn, if the aforementioned compensation is not made.
12.
A late fee of Re.1 per day, per volume or as fixed from time to time will be charged, if books are not returned within the prescribed period. A borrower may not be allowed to borrow books again unless he/she has paid the late fee due.
13.
Every depositor will get a 'borrowers' ticket and he/she will be responsible for all books borrowed on that ticket. The borrower's ticket is not transferable. 
14.
The borrower will be responsible for safe custody of his/her ticket. In case the ticket is lost, a duplicate ticket may be issued to him/her only on his/her applying in such manner as may be fixed by the Head of the Department and on payment of a fee of Rs. 10 (Rupees ten only). The borrower will be responsible for any misuse of his/her lost ticket.
15. 
The cash counter for the purposes of deposits, and withdrawals, etc. will remain open from 10 am to 3.30 pm (with recess from 1.30 to 2.30 pm) except on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays notified by the Library.
NB: The competent authority reserves the right to relax the rules as and when deemed necessary. 
RULES COVERING THE REFUND OF BORROWER'S DEPOSIT MONEY 
1. 
 If books borrowed from the Library by a borrower are not returned even after due notice, such compensation therefore would be three times the actual cost of the book. The lending facility is liable to be withdrawn if the aforementioned compensation is not made.
2.
In case the balance, if any, left after making the deduction, following Rules 11 and 12 of the 'Rules for the Issue of Books on Loan' is not claimed within three years from the date on which books were lent out, the whole amount of the balance shall be regarded as forfeited.
3.
No claim to money deposited by a borrower will be entertained unless the borrower's ticket and the receipt for the deposit is produced duly signed on its back, and a revenue stamp of the appropriate value is affixed with the application.
4.
If the ticket is lost, the borrower will have to give such declarations as may be determined by the Head of the Department, and will have to pay a sum of Rs. 10.00 (ten rupees) only. 
5.
Refund of deposits is made by cheque, to ticket holders except to foreign nationals.
NB : The competent authority reserves the right to relax the rules as and when deemed necessary.
RULES REGARDING THE USE AND USERS OF ASUTOSH COLLECTION AND RARE BOOK DIVISION 
 1.
Only regular Reading Room Card holders are permitted to use the Asutosh Collection and Rare Books Division with certain restrictions. 
2.
In very special cases, competent authority may extend validity of temporary day card for users at the Asutosh Collection and Rare Book Division. 
3.
A register of readers is maintained by the Rare Book Division and Asutosh Collection with certain columns for official records and statistics. The users are required to register themselves at these divisions/sections. 
4.
 Not more than four monographs or four bound volumes of periodicals
or serials, loose issue of one year or equivalent are issued to a reader at
a time in Asutosh Collection. But for Rare Book Division only two
monographs/two bound volumes or equivalent are issued.
5.
 Readers have no access to the stacks of Asutosh Collection and Rare
Book Division. 
6.
 Tracing from documents is not allowed.
7.
 The restrictions of photography and photocopy from any material,
illustrations in monographs or textual pages from documents are
applicable. 
NB: The competent authority reserves the right to relax the rules as and when deemed necessary.
RULES FOR REPROGRAPHIC SERVICES
1.  Eligibility :
The service is provided to the bona fide readers of the Library.
2. Service time :
10.30 am to 1.30 pm and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm
on working days.

 3.
Rates : a) Xerox - Rs. 1.00 per exposure
(Minimum Charge Rs. 5.00)
b) Microfilm Negative - Rs. 4.00 per exposure
(Minimum Charge Rs. 20.00) 
c) Microfilm Positive - Rs. 20.00 per exposure
(Minimum Charge Rs. 100.00) 
d) Microfilm Reader -
Printer Copy
(A3 and A4 size only)
Rs. 5.00 per copy from microfilm,
Rs. 7.00 per copy from the microfilms already available at the National Library.
(Minimum Charge Rs. 25.00) 
e) Enlargement Prints -
(Bromide copy)		 Rs. 20.00 per print
(600 sq. cm. or part thereof)
(Minimum Charge Rs. 50.00) 
4.  Limitations :
Readers are allowed to take photocopies from not more than two books or two periodicals per day. If a reader photocopies from a document, he/she will not be allowed to photocopy from the same document in a period of one year.
5. No.of pages:
a) Books: The readers are allowed to photocopy a
maximum of 50 pages from each of the two books, provided the total number of copied pages do not exceed one-third of the total pages in the book.
   
b) Journals : The readers are allowed to photocopy one article from one issue to a maximum of two articles from two journals/periodicals.
6.
Requisition must be made in person. Readers will take delivery of the reprography materials by themselves. However, letter of authorization is acceptable. 
7.
Hundred years old documents and/or brittle books will not be photocopied. As a special case, such documents may be microfilmed for institutions and individual scholars, provided their physical condition is good.
8.
Only 10 plates or art reproduction from each book are allowed for photocopy/microfilming to the maximum of 25 books in one calendar year. 
 9.
In case of copyrighted book, a Copyright Declaration Form as available in the Reading Rooms is required to be filled in by the user.
N.B. The competent authority reserves the right to relax the rules as and when deemed necessary. 

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