Rules & Regulations

Dear readers:

The Shanghai Library East provides diverse, thematic and experiential modern library services for the public, striving to become a new generation center for reading and cultural communication. We welcome you to come to our library to read and borrow materials, visit various cultural and art exhibitions, and participate in various public lectures and reader activities.

General Provisions

Upon entering the library, visitors must cooperate with epidemic prevention checks, undergo security inspections, and refrain from carrying flammable, explosive, toxic, or other hazardous materials. Please use power sources only in designated areas, observe electrical safety precautions, and refrain from connecting unauthorized power sources. Please ensure the proper storage of personal belongings, and items larger than 2014 cm (including large bags, hand carts, scooters, etc.), as well as other items unrelated to using the library, must be deposited.

Please abide by the library rules and other public safety rules, respect and cooperate with the arrangements and management of the library staff. When entering the library, please dress neatly and behave in a civilized manner, maintain quietness in the reading area and keep mobile communication devices on silent mode. Please refrain from consuming food, colored drinks, and sugary beverages in the reading area, adhere to public order and good behavior customs, and do not occupy or compete for public resources. Individuals without shoes or shirts, those with oily and dirty clothes, intoxicated troublemakers, carriers of highly infectious diseases, unaccompanied mental health patients, or those whose health condition may endanger other people’s safety are not allowed to enter the library.

Please take care of the library materials and public property. Please contact the librarian for access to books stored in closed stacks and do not enter the work area without permission. Please do not annotate, alter, fold, soil, cut, or tear book pages. Materials that have not been checked out must not be taken out of the library; violators will be dealt with according to the relevant regulations of the Shanghai Library.

Please respect intellectual property rights; downloading, copying, and other actions must comply with the principle of fair use in the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China. Readers may use handheld devices to take photos for personal use. Library staff have the authority to restrict or prohibit scanning and filming that may cause physical damage to library materials, and the use of flashlights, tripods, and scanners is prohibited. Taking photos of library staff, other readers, or certain restricted areas without permission is not allowed.

The following behaviors are prohibited in the library:

(1) Entering work areas or other areas marked as off-limits without permission;

(2) Climbing over walls, fences, turnstiles, counters, or exhibition installations in violation of regulations;

(3) Smoking, lighting fires, spitting, urinating or defecating in public areas, littering by throwing chewing gum, fruit peels, paper scraps, and other debris anywhere;

(4) Unauthorized writing, drawing, hanging, or posting items on surfaces within the library;

(5) Setting up stalls, parking vehicles, stacking miscellaneous items without permission, engaging in busking, distributing promotional materials, conducting marketing activities, offering enrollment and training programs, giving loud tours, making noise, or playing electronic devices with sound on speaker mode;

(6) Begging, lying down, or collecting discarded items;

(7) Bringing live birds, as well as cats and dogs (except guide dogs and police dogs);

(8) Bringing bicycles (including folding bicycles), using balance bikes, skateboards, scooters, rollerblades, and other motorized mobility aids (except wheelchairs for disabled individuals and baby strollers);

(9) Bringing flammable, explosive, toxic, harmful, radioactive, corrosive, and other dangerous items that may endanger personal and property safety; bringing items with strong odors or irritating smells, as well as fragile and sharp items without proper packaging; bringing inflatable balloons, etc.;

(10) Unauthorized operation of devices with warning signs, such as buttons, switches, sockets, and the improper use of emergency or safety devices when not in an emergency situation.

(11) Damaging turnstiles, computers, self-service equipment, screens, etc., or interfering with communication signals, video surveillance systems, and other systems;

(12) Damaging, moving, or covering safety signs, monitoring facilities, and safety protection equipment;

(13) Reversing, pushing each other, playing, or frolicking on escalators in operation;

(14) Any other behaviors that may affect the safe and orderly operation of the library and disturb other readers.

Book Loan (including renewal)

Borrowing library materials requires a reader's card with the “One-Card-Through ordinary borrowing function issued in the real name of the card holder by the Shanghai Library, or a virtual reader's card activated with library borrowing function using the Suishen Code. Each card can borrow a maximum of 15 books or periodicals, with a loan period of 28 days. Those who return the books late are required to pay an overdue fee of 0.2 yuan per book per day. Those who fail to handle the overdue books cannot continue to borrow library materials.

You can renew borrowed books and periodicals once, and the renewal can be done on any day before the due date. After a successful renewal, the loan period will be extended to 56 days. However, if there are overdue books or other violations associated with your reader's card, the renewal function will be disabled. To re-enable the renewal function, you must return the overdue materials, pay the overdue fees, or address any violations with the library.

Before completing the borrowing procedure, please carefully inspect the condition of the library materials. If there is obvious damage, missing pages, or other issues, please inform the library staff. Please take care of the borrowed materials and their attachments, and do not intentionally damage the various barcodes and labels attached to the materials for management purposes by the library.

Guidelines for Internet Security and Digital Resource Services

Please comply with relevant laws and regulations, including the "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China," the "Regulations on the Security Protection of Computer Information Systems of the People's Republic of China," and the "Administrative Measures for the Security Protection of International Networking of Computer Information Networks." Please refrain from engaging in any activities that may harm the computer information network security of the Shanghai Library or disrupt normal order. Without permission, do not delete, modify, or add anything to the data, information network functions, or application programs stored, processed, or transmitted in the computer information network. Do not alter the library computer equipment or network connections without authorization. Do not use library equipment to play online or standalone games. Do not run or play content unrelated to the resources provided by the library from personal storage devices. Do not browse pornography, vulgar web content, and etc..

You are not permitted to use downloaded documents for any commercial purposes. Please refrain from downloading, browsing, or searching databases and digital resources continuously, systematically, intensively, or in bulk at a speed that exceeds the normal reading rate within a short period of time. (It is generally considered that it takes at least a few minutes to read a document normally. If reading or downloading documents exceeds the normal speed, it will be considered as "abuse").

Please ensure the security of your personal data to prevent security risks such as information leakage. If your account is compromised or your computer is attacked, resulting in unauthorized use of electronic resources, you will be held responsible for any consequences.

Handling of Violations in Borrowing Library Materials

In the case of losing or damaging library materials due to improper use, readers are required to bear the relevant compensation responsibility in accordance with the "Interim Measures for Compensation for Borrowed Materials from the Shanghai Library." During the compensation process, the borrowing function of the reader's card will be temporarily suspended. If the reader refuses to cooperate with the compensation, or if the damage to the library material is severe and involves a substantial amount, the library will record this misconduct in the integrity file and suspend all services associated with the relevant reader's card for at least 12 months.

If a reader engages in theft or vandalism of books and periodicals within the library, or if they engage in malicious disturbances despite warnings, the library will suspend all services associated with the relevant reader's card for at least 3 months.

For those who improperly damage the machines, systems, software, and other equipment within the library, compensation will be based on the repair standards provided by various equipment and software suppliers.

In the case of intentional malfunction or damage to the electronic reading terminal, compensation will be based on the repair standards for various types of equipment. In the event of loss of a borrowed electronic reading terminal, the reader may opt to compensate with a new machine of the same brand and version or with a designated model worth no less than the market value of the lost machine, and pay a barcode processing fee of 10 yuan. If compensation with a new machine is not possible, compensation will be based on the market price of the equipment.

For the aforementioned violations of library book loan regulations, if mediation or advice proves ineffective and there is suspicion of violation of the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law" or other criminal laws, the case will be handed over to the public security organs for legal punishment.

Children and Adolescent Safety

The children's book loan area at the library welcomes readers aged 14 and below who hold a Shanghai Library children's reader card, with the requirement that preschool children must be accompanied by a guardian. During the opening hours of the outdoor area of the children's book loan section, parents are responsible for ensuring proper supervision. Young readers who do not adhere to the library regulations or those who cause disturbance may be asked to leave. Parents are asked to cooperate with the library staff to create a comfortable, quiet reading environment and maintain good order.

The library has implemented measures to select and evaluate internet content, as well as resources linked on the library's homepage, to ensure the safe and effective use of digital resources by minors. Parents or legal guardians are responsible for supervising and collectively determining which resources are appropriate for their children to use.