Lending regulations
The Loan Traffic Regulations (LVO) regulate lending between libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany (except for intra-church and Bundeswehr lending). It is passed by the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the federal states in the form of a recommendation and is put into effect in the federal states - usually by means of a circular issued by the respective responsible state ministry. The currently valid interlibrary loan regulations were passed on September 19, 2003 and implemented in the federal states in the course of 2004.
The two most important principles of interlibrary loan are firmly anchored in the interlibrary loan regulations:
- The regional principle : First it is necessary to check whether the medium is available locally, then it is extended to the own interlibrary loan region and only if an order is not possible here should an interlibrary loan order be extended to the other regions.
- The principle of reciprocity (the principle of give and take): This is one of the prerequisites for a library to be able to participate in interlibrary loan. It means that a library can only take part in interlibrary loan if it agrees to release media from its holdings for interlibrary loan , ie not only “taking” but also “giving” to the loan.