Purpose:  To define the educational mission and services of the Normandale Community College Library and to explain how Normandale Community College protects the library, library materials, and library users.

The library facility is a college library designed to meet the various needs of library users. 

Subpart A: Users. Library patrons include students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Subpart B: Hours. The library will hold regular hours.  The library will generally be open during regular class times and will hold abbreviated hours during breaks.  

The Library provides various services to its users.

Subpart A: Mission. The mission of the Normandale Library is to provide a wide range of information resources and quality professional services to students in their intellectual, career, and personal development. The library faculty teaches students as they seek research and supplemental materials for their courses. The library also serves as a resource for faculty, staff, and the community.

Subpart B: Library Instruction. The goal of the library instruction program is to help students become efficient, effective and, independent researchers who are able to use a variety of library and information resources and to think critically as they gather and use information. 

Subpart C: Services and Materials. The library provides reference services for its patrons.  The primary goal of Reference is to help students find and evaluate information. Librarians direct patrons to the best information tools to meet their research needs.  Reference services are available on campus in person, by phone, by email through Ask-a-librarian, and 24/7 chat reference service through AskMN.

The library maintains a collection of materials for use by its patrons.  Library collections include but are not limited to: books, periodicals, audiovisual materials, maps, microfilmed information, electronic databases, ebooks, and electronically/digitized collections (streaming videos) for most subjects areas. The library provides off campus services to currently enrolled students and currently employed faculty/staff.  Off campus patrons need to use their library card barcode to access full-text electronic journals, ebooks, and streaming videos.

The library also participates in interlibrary loan (ILL), a service that borrows books and acquires copies of articles from journals that Normandale does not own.

The library provides computer access at terminals in the Reference Room, in the mezzanine Library Research Laboratory (when class instruction is not scheduled), through check-out of laptops, and via the wireless internet connection throughout the library.

The library maintains multiple guides, tutorials, and tools to assist students, faculty, and staff with their research needs.

Subpart D: Circulation Desk. Library materials may be checked out for a variable loan period dependent upon the material. A Normandale campus photo ID is required to borrow materials from the library.

Subpart E: Reserve Collection. The library maintains a reserve collection.  Faculty may place items on reserve to be checked out by students for limited periods of time.

Subpart A:  Unacceptable Personal Conduct. The library will not tolerate unacceptable personal conduct from patrons.  Unacceptable personal conduct is outlined below.

1. Noise:  Patrons should not make excessive noise.
2. Electronic Devices: Cell phones, iPods, pagers should be switched to non-audible settings when entering the library. Patrons may converse on their cell phones outside the library only.
3. Abuse and harassment:  Abuse of, threat to and/or harassment, physical or verbal, of library patrons or library staff, including challenges to library staff or other patrons requesting compliance with these policies is prohibited.
4. Loitering: Patrons may not wander from place to place without apparent reason or business and cannot refuse to identify themselves or account for their presence when requested.
5. Animals: The only animals permitted are those trained to assist persons with disabilities.
6. Computer Use: Using library computers to view materials that create an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or learning environment is prohibited. All computer use is governed by the Normandale Computer Center Policies.
7. Disorderly conduct while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance is prohibited.
8. Bringing weapons of any kind into the library is prohibited.
9. Tobacco use in any form including smokeless tobacco is prohibited in the library.

Subpart B: Food and Drink Policies. The food and drink polices are set to maintain an appropriate academic environment. 

1. Beverages in spill-proof containers are permitted.
2. Foods that are not overly noisy and that do not have a strong odor are permitted.
3. Patrons must dispose of their trash; clean up spills, crumbs, or sticky tables. Patrons are directed to use the paper towels and cleansers provided throughout the library to assist with cleaning.
4. Eating and drinking are not permitted at library computers (including library-owned laptops).
5. In the study rooms, only covered beverages are permitted.

Subpart C: Unacceptable Building Use. The building use policy is intended to create a safe environment for patrons and to protect library materials. 

1. Patrons should not be in an unauthorized area of the library or remain in the library complex after it is closed or when requested to leave during emergency situations.
2. Patrons must not open emergency exits or set off security and/or emergency alarms except in emergency situations.
3. Vandalizing or defacing any part of the library building complex, its furniture or equipment is prohibited.
4. Mutilating library materials by marking, underlining, removing pages, bindings, or in any other way defacing or damaging library materials is prohibited.
5. Patrons must not maliciously access, alter, disconnect, delete, damage or destroy any library computer system, network, computer program or data.
6. Blocking an aisle with an electrical cord is prohibited.
7. Patrons must not move furniture or other fixtures to other areas within the library.
8. Willfully blocking or maliciously obstructing any library entrance, exit, lobby area, staircase, aisle or passageway is prohibited. Photographic filming or videotaping must be approved by the Library Chair in advance; any filming of staff or patron within the library requires permission of the person(s) being taped.

Subpart D:  Enforcement. Library staff members will take appropriate steps to enforce these policies. Repeated failure to comply may result in a referral to Campus Security or the Associate Dean of Students.

The Library reserves the right to contact Campus Security or the Dean of Students when circumstances require immediate action to protect the library and/or its user.