LENDING LIBRARY RULES

LCS lending library services are offered for free to all members, including shipping both ways, and we encourage you to use them.

However, please remember that it is a lending library, not a source of free books.

As a condition of borrowing books, you agree to the following terms:

  1. The initial loan period of a Lending Library book is 3 months. The loan period can be extended by the Lending Librarian. After the loan period, you must promptly return the book to us. You have a 1 month grace period between the end of the loan period and when we receive the returned book.
  2. We will pay for shipping and shipping insurance both ways via government mail, or a commercial shipping company approved by the Lending Librarian, at their lowest-cost rate (or as approved by the Lending Librarian).
  3. Upon the Lending Librarian’s request, you must purchase whatever shipping insurance they request (at our expense). If you do not purchase shipping insurance requested, you will be held responsible for any loss in transit.
  4. The Lending Librarian is authorized to unilaterally negotiate, approve, and/or deny any extension of the loan period, taking into account any factors the Librarian considers relevant. You must proactively communicate with the Lending Librarian to extend your loan period, and you must promptly return the book after the loan period approved by the Lending Librarian.
  5. Although the Lending Librarian will make reasonable efforts to contact you using the contact details you provide, they are not required to do so by physical mail.
  6. If you fail to return a book on time, and also fail to convince us that you should not be held responsible for it, the LCS can do any or all of the following consequences:
    a. The LCS can directly charge you, without requiring further approval by you, for the replacement cost of the book. If you pay the replacement cost, you are no longer required to return the book. If you are able to return the book after you pay the replacement cost, it’s our choice whether or not to refund your payment, based on whether we have already purchased a replacement book and (if so) whether we want another copy.
    b. Until you either return the book or pay for its replacement, the LCS can suspend any or all of your membership rights, such as Lending Library access, access to your conlang.org website, access to LCS jobs, etc — as well as any non-membership privileges such as access to an LCC, LCS Discord, the LCS Zulip (other than the annual meeting channel), etc. However, we will not suspend your right to be a member, your right to vote as a member, nor your right to participate in members’ meetings.
  7. Before we carry out any consequence(s), we will send you at least one email (using the emails the Lending Librarian and Membership Manager have on file) which explicitly notifies you of our intention to invoke the specific consequence(s) we intend to carry out. If you either return the book, pay for its replacement, or convince us that you should not be held responsible for it, before the end of that 1 month, we will not take such action. Otherwise, after that 1 month grace period, we may do anything we notified you of, at any time and at our sole discretion. We may incrementally escalate the consequence(s) invoked, provided that you get 1 month’s notice by email of any consequence invoked.
  8. Each of the Lending Librarian, President, Vice President, and Board are authorized to unilaterally make any decisions under this policy (in consultation with the Lending Librarian), such as to decide whether or not you have given a good reason for not being held responsible for the loss of the book, decide what consequence(s) to invoke, decide when to carry them out, and decide whether to waive your obligation to return or pay for an overdue book (provided that you are given a minimum 1 month notice by email of the specific consequence(s) intended, which you can use to return the book, pay for its replacement, or explain why you shouldn’t be held responsible for its loss).