The Act Acquisitions, deposits, disposal and loan of objects Section 4 – Borrowing and lending of objects
33.Subsection (1) empowers NLS to borrow and accept loans of objects for the purposes of exhibition, study or research.
34.Subsection (2) empowers NLS to lend objects in the collections.
35.Subsection (3) sets out special considerations which NLS must have regard to in deciding whether or not to lend an object, and in determining the period for which and conditions on which the object is to be lent. These include any risk to which the object is likely to be exposed and the extent to which that risk can be mitigated or indemnified, for example under the Government Indemnity Scheme operated under sections 16 and 16A of the National Heritage Act 1980.
36.Subsection (4) clarifies that the borrowing and lending powers in subsections (1) and (2) are additional powers. NLS may in future have power to borrow and lend non-print legal deposit publications under regulations under the 2003 Act. Subsection (5) provides that NLS’s lending power in subsection (2) does not apply to non-print publications that might be received by virtue of regulations under the 2003 Act, thus protecting the restriction on lending of such publications in section 7(2)(d) of that Act.
37.Subsection (6) protects prohibitions or restrictions on lending that donors have attached to objects in the collections and is intended to serve as a reminder to NLS to check for any such conditions when considering lending objects under subsection (2). For example, a condition may provide that an object may not be loaned for more than one month in any calendar year. Prohibitions or restrictions on lending may only be overridden with the consent of the person having the right to enforce the condition or if the name and contact details of such a person cannot be ascertained despite NLS taking all reasonable steps to ascertain them.