Accessibility and use

Access to secure storage areas must be carefully monitored. Cleaning, maintenance, and janitorial staff should always be admitted in the company of a staff member, and unauthorized visitors should never be left alone in storage areas. Allowing a potential thief full and unsupervised access to library materials is tantamount to encouraging theft. In general, the more knowledgeable the visitor, the greater the risk to the collection.

Ideally, user areas should be separated from sequestered (closed) collection areas by a locked door that can be opened only by an electronic keypad or a magnetized card. Readers using rare or unique materials should be closely supervised at all times to ensure that works or portions of works are not stolen or damaged, intentionally or accidentally.

Works consisting of multiple parts, such as unbound periodicals or collections of letters, should be allotted to readers one piece at a time. When artifacts are issued in a protective enclosure, the contents of the enclosure should be checked when returned by the reader. Permanent records should be made of all uses of rare and unique materials, and readers should be required to verify their identity and affiliation.

Readers working with original and microfilm materials should be checked to ensure that they use only soft pencils for taking notes (the library should make soft pencils available for readers to encourage their use). Staff should make sure that readers understand how to handle library materials correctly, and should be ready to supply cotton gloves when they are required (see also Care and handling).