REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
ON
LIBRARIES
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Objective of the Law
The Law on Libraries of the Republic of Lithuania shall
establish the library system of Lithuania, relations between
libraries, financing and state administration of libraries, and
define the library collections of Lithuania and their protection.
Basic statutes of the Law :
printed matter and other documents (books, periodicals,
manuscripts, music notes, microfilms, audio-visual, cartographic
materials, graphics, electronic materials, Braille publications
and other documents), assembled and protected in state and non
government libraries, as well as, those located in libraries of
other states, archives and private collections, which however,
legally belong to the Republic of Lithuania, shall comprise the
property of the Republic of Lithuania, protected by the laws of
the Republic of Lithuania and the procedure established through
international agreements,
printed matter and other documents, regardless of their
authorship or the political or ideological orientation, must be
accessible to everyone, free of charge.
Article 2. Description of Library
The library is an institution of culture, education and
information, wherein printed matter and other documents are
collected, organised for use and kept, and the information
contained in them is systematised and disseminated, for the
purposes of knowing, associating, preserving information
collected by people, training and recreation, and is registered
in the procedure established by this Law.
Article 3. Legal Administration of Library Activity
In their activities, the libraries of Lithuania shall be
guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, this
Law, other laws of the Republic of Lithuania, decisions by the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania, normative acts of the
Ministry of Culture and international agreements made by the
Republic of Lithuania.
Each library, regardless of whether it shall possess the
rights of a legal person, shall act in accordance with the
library charter approved by the founder.
Article 4. State and Non Government Libraries
The Republic of Lithuania has both state and non government
libraries.
State libraries are libraries, which have been founded by
state governing institutions, municipal governments and other
institutions.
Non government libraries are libraries, which have been
founded by non government enterprises, institutions, as well as
political, professional, religious, public organisations and
natural persons.
Non government libraries may obtain methodological
assistance from state libraries and other centres of library
science.
Article 5. Library Rights
Provisions approved by the founder shall determine the
rights and obligations of libraries which do not have the rights
of a legal person.
A library which has the right of a legal person, may:
1) maintain active national and foreign currency accounts in
one of its selected Republic of Lithuania Banks, and also,
pending permission of the founder, one foreign currency account
in any foreign state;
2) establish, pending permission of the founder, branches,
maintaining their own separate premises and having obtained
permission of the founder, hold an active account;
3) basing themselves on the general provisions of the
library, administer, employ and dispose of the property and funds
assigned to it;
4) draw up agreements, assume obligations; pending
permission of the founder, draw up agreements regarding the use
of library property and funds;
5) establish its internal structure;
6) pending permission of the founder, create funds as well
as personal enterprises;
7) determine fees for the services rendered, provided these
have not been established by the library founder;
8) settle accounts for goods supplied, work completed and
services rendered in any form previously agreed upon, which does
not contradict the laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other
legal acts;
9) join library associations;
10) enjoy other civil rights and obligations not specified
by this Law, provided these do not contradict the laws of the
Republic of Lithuania.
Chapter II
LIBRARY SYSTEM, LIBRARY ESTABLISHMENT AND CLOSING
Article 6. Library System
The library system of Lithuania shall be comprised of
general and specialised libraries.
General libraries shall serve readers according to a
regional principle, fulfilling complex information demands of
readers of various professions, diverse levels of education and
different age levels, shall assemble printed matter of general
content and a collection of other documents, with attention to
the economic, cultural and demographic characteristics of the
territory it serves.
Specialised libraries shall satisfy special information
demands (of science, manufacturing, education etc.) and develop
collections of printed matter and other documents, taking into
consideration the founder's functions.
General libraries shall include:
1) The National Library;
2) public libraries:
a) district libraries;
b) regional and city municipal libraries.
Specialised libraries shall include:
1) libraries of scientific institutions;
2) university libraries;
3) educational institution libraries;
4) other libraries.
Article 7. National Library
Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is the main
public scientific library, national press archive, and also the
depository for Lithuanian publications, as well as for the most
significant scientific and general publications of foreign
countries, and a co-ordination centre for national bibliography,
state registration of Lithuanian publications, information,
scientific research work and methodological activity.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve
the National Library provisions.
The Ministry of Culture shall be the founder of the National
Library.
Article 8. District Public Library
The district public library shall be responsible for the
implementation and development of state library science
programmes within the district and shall be the centre for
district public library methodology, bibliography and
information. It shall guarantee district library access to the
library collections of Lithuania, and shall perform other
functions, established by the Ministry of Culture in the public
district library provisions.
The district public library shall assemble an appropriate
general collection of printed matter that fulfills the needs of
the district, and other documents pertaining to the district.
The Ministry of Culture shall be the founder of the district
public library.
Article 9. Rural or City Municipality Library
A rural or city municipality library shall accumulate a
general collection of printed matter and other documents that
suit the general needs of a region or city and are relevant to a
region or city; shall collect and protect printed matter and
other documents that are relevant to the region or city; shall
maintain the ties established between all libraries located
within the municipal territory with the collections of Lithuanian
libraries.
The rural or city municipality shall be the founder of the
rural or city municipality library.
A regional or city municipal library must be established
with branches in the city micro-regions and/or rural settlements.
Township or city municipality library branches, serving
children, may be established in townships and cities.
The municipal government, together with the Ministry of
Culture shall determine the number of regional or city municipal
library branches and their location according to population
density.
Rural or city municipality library branches shall be
established as follows:
in rural areas one library branch shall be established per
700-800 population on the average;
library branches shall be established in a township if they
have a population numbering up to 10 thousand;
city library branches shall be established per 20-30
thousand population on the average, in cities which contain over
10 thousand population.
A library shall be established in resort cities per 5
thousand of population.
In a city containing both city and rural municipality
libraries, one library can exist per agreement between city and
rural municipality authorities, to serve both city and rural
populations. Under these circumstances, this library shall be
financed by the budget funds of both the city and rural
authorities.
Rural or city municipality libraries shall organise library
services in city hospitals, and other medical institutions,
prisons, care and welfare institutions, as well as other social
institutions, according to an agreement made with these
institutions, and they shall also ensure conditions enabling the
disabled to avail themselves of printed matter and other
documents and information.
Article 10. Educational Institution Libraries
Educational institution libraries shall assemble a
collection of printed matter and other documents, which shall
satisfy the needs of the institution which they serve, to make
use of printed matter and other documents and information; they
shall take part in the formation of Lithuania's library
collection and the library information system.
Article 11. University and Educational Institution
Libraries
University and educational institution libraries are those
libraries which shall assemble a collection of printed matter and
other documents in order to guarantee an opportunity for a
university or an educational institution to implement its
scientific, pedagogic and developmental goals and to improve
instructor (teacher) qualifications, and which also shall
participate in the formation of the library collection of
Lithuania and the library information system.
Libraries must be established within universities, higher
and professional and general education schools.
Based upon the decision of a regional authority, it may not
be necessary to establish a library in a rural primary or
principal school, provided a regional municipal library branch,
able to supply these schools, exists there. Under these
circumstances, the municipal authority must allocate additional
financing for the public library.
Article 12. Other Libraries
Juridical and natural persons may establish libraries that
satisfy their needs for use of printed matter and other documents
and information.
Library services must be provided in all regional and city
hospitals, children's homes, welfare institutions and prisons.
For this purpose, libraries shall be established within these
institutions or agreements shall be drawn up with public
libraries with respect to library services.
Article 13. Libraries of National Significance
Libraries whose collections are of exceptional significance
to science, education, culture, or the state economy and comprise
the basis of Lithuania's library collection, are libraries of
national significance. They shall be obligated to preserve their
collections as well as their integrity and satisfy the
fundamental public needs for use of printed material and other
documents and information. The following are libraries of
national significance:
Vilnius University Library,
Library of the Academy of Sciences of Lithuania,
Technical Library of Lithuania,
Medical Library of Lithuania,
Lithuanian Library for the Blind.
Libraries of national significance shall be the library
methodology centres for their network.
Article 14. Library Networks and Library Consortia
The library network shall comprise an organised complex of
libraries united by similar goals as well as other common
characteristics.
In order to resolve common tasks libraries may form
associations, consortia and other groups, based upon agreements
among themselves.
Article 15. Registration of Libraries
All libraries shall be registered in the procedure
established by the Cultural Institution Register provisions,
confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 16. Library Property
Library property may be comprised of buildings, facilities,
other long term assets, printed matter and other document
collection, financial resources and other property related to
library activity. State libraries shall administer state property
they have been assigned, shall utilise it free of charge and
shall preserve and protect it.
Buildings and facilities leased by regional libraries or
otherwise employed by them, are included on the balance sheets of
these libraries.
Buildings and facilities, that house state libraries as well
as the property of these libraries, shall not be privatised.
The library founder must ensure that the library has the
necessary funds, library specialists, facilities and equipment
adequate for its activity.
Article 17. Removal of State Library to Another
Facility
A library may be moved only to better facilities, more
suited for library functions than its former location.
Article 18. Reorganisation of Libraries
In seeking to reorganise a library, the responsible
government administrator must prepare a draft reorganisation plan
regarding the reorganisation of the library and submit it to the
Ministry of Culture, one month prior to the day the decision is
expected to be made, and obtain its permission to proceed with
the reorganisation. The draft reorganisation plan must contain
the library's name, address, reorganisation means, goal,
duration, basis for reorganisation, property assessment,
assumption of obligations and their duration terms, functions and
tasks as well as exhaustive information concerning distribution
of printed matter and other document resource distribution of the
library being organised, or one already organised. The plan of
the library activity statutes, following its reorganisation, must
be added to the reorganisation draft plan.
The Ministry of Culture must adopt a decision regarding the
library's reorganisation, within the course of two weeks, from
the date the plan is submitted.
The library administrator shall have the right to register a
complaint with the court, regarding the Ministry's refusal to
permit reorganisation of the library.
Article 19. Closing of Libraries
Public libraries and libraries of state significance may not
be closed.
In order to close a library, administrators of other state
libraries must prepare a draft plan for its closure and submit it
before the Ministry of Culture one and half months prior to the
decision being taken regarding the library's closing. The draft
plan must include the library's name, address, closure time
schedule, basis, property assessment, comprehensive information
concerning the use of printed matter and other document
collections, as well as other library stock.
The Ministry of Culture must within one month's time from
the day of the appeal's submission, adopt a decision concerning
the closing of the library. In the event the reply is in the
negative, motives prompting the decision, must be furnished.
The administrator shall have the right to lodge a complaint
with the court, in the event the Ministry of Culture refuses to
close the library.
The library administrator, having acquired the Ministry of
Culture concurrence to close the library, must form a commission,
in which the participation of the representatives of the Ministry
of Culture, the library being closed and its methodology centre
shall be required.
In closing a state institution containing a library, the
requirements of Articles 17 and 18 of this Law shall be applied
in this library's closing.
Non government libraries shall be closed per decision of
their administration, with prior two-week notification concerning
this, to the Ministry of Culture.
State libraries shall have priority to acquire the printed
material and other documents offered for sale by a non government
library, that is being closed.
Documents of libraries being closed, that comprise a portion
of Lithuanian Archive collection, shall be used in accordance
with the procedure established by the Law on Archives of the
Republic of Lithuania.
Chapter III
LIBRARY COLLECTION
Article 20. Library Collection of Lithuania
Library collection of Lithuania shall be comprised of the
total joint library collections, based upon general information
system.
Regulations of the library collection of Lithuania, approved
by the Ministry of Culture, shall establish the structure,
formation principles, library rights and obligations in forming
and using these resources.
The state library collection shall constitute state
property. Its order of accounting, preservation and use, shall be
regulated by library standards, that have been confirmed in the
procedure established by laws, which shall be obligatory for all
state libraries.
A library, which receives a request from a subscriber, must
employ the possibilities of the Lithuania's entire library
collection, in order to satisfy the needs of the patron.
Library documents which comprise the archive collection
portion, shall be preserved and used in the procedure established
by the Law on Archives of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 21. Acquisition of Library Collection
The library collection shall be assembled from obligatory
depository printed matter issues, from publications and other
documents obtained from legal and natural persons, through
exchanging publications and other documents with Lithuania's and
other states' libraries and from gift, or otherwise obtained as
inheritance, publications and other documents.
The National Library, Libraries of National Significance and
regional public libraries shall receive the obligatory, no cost
depository issues of printed matter and other documents. The
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall determine the
number of issues and the procedure of their distribution.
Rural district and city publishers must send one obligatory,
no cost issue of publications and other documents, to the library
of this rural or city municipality.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish
the procedure of sending printed matter and other documents to
libraries and the tariffs thereof.
Article 22. Depository Collection
Printed matter and other documents that are not in use or
are in small demand, in Lithuanian libraries but have not lost
their scientific or historical value, may be transferred to a
depository collection, which shall function in accordance with
provisions confirmed by the Ministry of Culture.
Article 23. Exchange Collection
Materials not needed for the library collection, duplicate
copies, items of small demand and items intended for exchange
purposes and other documents, may be transferred to the exchange
collections.
The Ministry of Culture shall establish the procedure of
transfers to and sales from the exchange collection.
Article 24. Protection of Library Collection
Standards of library collection accounting and protection,
approved in the procedure established by laws, regulate the
conditions and accounting procedure of library collection.
Library patrons (or users) must observe the regulations for
use of the library and must protect printed matter and other
documents being used. Library patrons, who have lost printed
matter and other library collection documents or have damaged
these beyond repair, shall be obligated to replace them with the
same, or else substitute them with others which the library
recognises as being of equal value, and if impossible to replace,
are obliged to compensate equivalent to tenfold their market
value.
A fine whose size will be established by the standard reader
service regulations, confirmed by the Ministry of Culture, shall
be incurred for failure to return library printed matter and
other documents, within the prescribed period of time.
Readers who hold a temporary reader's permit shall be
allowed to take home printed matter and other documents, upon
leaving a deposit equivalent to their market value.
Library employees, who are responsible for the
disappearance, seizure, destruction and damage to library printed
matter and other documents, shall be held responsible in the
procedure established by laws.
Article 25. Protection and Restoration of Library
Manuscripts, Old, Rare, Particularly Valuable
Printed Matter and Other Documents
Procedure of protection and use of library manuscripts, old,
rare and particularly valuable printed matter and other documents
shall be established by the provisions for Protection of
Manuscripts and Old and Particularly Valuable Printed Matter,
approved by the Minister of Culture.
Manuscripts, old, rare and particularly valuable printed
matter and other documents may be restored within libraries,
whose provisions allow for the restoration function, and within
other institutions, which hold a licence issued by the Ministry
of Culture, to restore cultural value items.
Restorers (individuals, holding the restorer's
qualification, issued by the Ministry of Culture) and the persons
supervised by the restorers, shall have the right to restore
manuscripts, old, rare and particularly valuable printed matter
and other documents.
Chapter IV
LIBRARY FINANCING
Article 26. Library Financing
The amount of funding for support of Mažvydas National
Library and libraries of national significance is included as a
special line-item in the National State Budget of Lithuania.
District public libraries shall be financed from the state
budget through the Ministry of Culture.
Rural and city municipality libraries, as well as libraries
of general education schools shall be financed from municipal
budgets. Rural and city municipality library funds for
acquisition of printed matter and other documents shall be
allocated from the State Budget through the Ministry of Culture.
Funding of libraries in general education schools for acquisition
of printed matter and other documents shall be allotted from the
State Budget through the Ministry of Education and Science.
Other state and non government libraries shall be funded
from their administration's (or institution's) funds.
Norms of state library financing shall be established by the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
State library development and scientific research programmes
shall be funded from the state budget and the funds of state
budget and co-operative state and library founder funds.
State libraries may offer services requiring remuneration,
the list of which shall be established by the Ministry of
Culture.
State library income shall not be subject to taxation.
Chapter V
REGULATION OF LIBRARY ACTIVITY
Article 27. Authority of the Ministry of Culture within
the Scope of Regulation of Library Activity
The Ministry of Culture shall be the institution authorised
to regulate state administration of libraries in the Republic of
Lithuania, which shall:
1) along with the Library Council, establish the strategy
for library development;
2) prepare and finance library science programmes;
3) establish, close, fund and manage libraries under its
jurisdiction;
4) appoint managers of libraries under its jurisdiction, co-
ordinate in writing appointments and dismissals of managers of
regional and city municipal libraries within its jurisdiction;
5) register libraries that are being established;
6) issue permit to reorganise or close a state library;
7) prepare, co-ordinate, and confirm documents that regulate
library activity;
8) order and finance scientific research topics;
9) co-ordinate the activities of Lithuania's state libraries
and their participation in inter state programs of library
science, information and documentation;
10) finance regional and city municipal library printed
matter and other document acquisition;
11) be able to offer financial support to libraries, outside
its administrative area, that are implementing state library
developmental programmes;
12) supervise adherence to documents of this Law and other
documents regulating library activity;
13) have the right to collect statistical data concerning
library activities, in accordance with the forms confirmed by the
Statistics Department of the Republic of Lithuania;
14) establish categories of qualifications for librarians
and library staff, confirm standard obligatory library staff
instructions, librarian qualification refresher courses and
procedures of qualification renewal and certification, present
suggestions to educational institutions regarding questions of
librarian preparation, qualification, refresher and qualification
renewal.
Article 28. Municipal Authority Competence in Library
Activity Regulation
Municipal authorities shall be empowered to:
1) establish municipal libraries, and determine the
municipal library network, in co-ordination with the Ministry of
Culture;
2) finance and administer municipal libraries and supply
their material base;
3) following co-ordination with the Ministry of Culture,
appoint and dismiss municipal library administrators;
4) upon permission of the Ministry of Culture, reorganise
municipal libraries.
Article 29. Library Council of Lithuania
The Library Council of Lithuania is an institution, which,
as an expert and consultant, shall deliberate the most important
issues of library activity. The Library Council of Lithuania
shall be comprised of representatives of National, state
significance, regional district libraries, librarian societies,
unions and associations, and scientists and other specialists in
library science.
The Library Council of Lithuania shall submit proposals to
the Ministry of Culture and the Government of the Republic of
Lithuania, concerning the strategy of library development,
library science programs and the funding thereof, budget funds
earmarked for library development, distribution, precision and
quality of the documents regulating library activities,
directions in scientific research and financing thereof and other
vital questions in library science.
The Minister of Culture shall approve the structure of the
Library Council of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic
of Lithuania shall approve the provisions based upon the
Minister's proposal.
Chapter VI
LIABILITY FOR LAW VIOLATIONS
Article 30. Liability for Law Violations
Individuals who are in violation of the Law on Libraries of
the Republic of Lithuania, shall bear liability for violations of
the Law, in accordance with the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania.
Chapter VII
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AMONG LIBRARIES
Article 31. International Co-operation among Libraries
Libraries of the Republic of Lithuania have the right to
establish direct ties with libraries of other nations and other
institutions, to join international library associations and to
participate in the activities thereof, in the established
procedure to exchange experts, printed matter and other documents
through direct agreements and according to international cultural
co-operation agreements.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania
ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS
President of the Republic
Vilnius
June 6, 1995
No. I-920