To protect the Library patron's right, the National Tsing Hua University Library hereby establishes the patron complaint system and revised this guideline.
The "patrons" mentioned in this set of guidelines are those who are recognized by the library and have borrowing/reading rights as well as library cards (including tentative library cards).
To cope with patron complaints, the library has established a "Patron complaint handling committee" (hereinafter referred to as the "committee ") under the Library Council. The committee is made up of one representative from each department of the Library Council., one representative from the Tsing Hua College of the Library Council, one student representative, one staff and contract employee representative, and one alumni representative. The representatives serve one-year terms. The student representative is chosen internally from the student representatives of the Library Council.
The first committee meeting will be held by the Director of the Library and the representatives will internally choose a coordinator who will organize and host meetings as well as decide the complaint response and judging process.
At least 1/2 of the representatives have to be present for a meeting to be held and at least 2/3 of the representatives have to be present for a resolution to be made.
If a patron is dissatisfied with the management or measures of the library and feels that the library has violated one’s rights or privileges, the patron can file a complaint to the Library Complaint Handling Committee.
If a patron wishes to file a complaint, he/she should send in the complaint on paper within thirty days of the violation. The complaint has to be double-registered and sent to the Library Director's Office. As an alternative, one can also hand in the complaint personally to the Director's secretary and the complaint will be handed in by the secretary to the committee.
The committee will not accept complaints that exceed the time limit. However, this rule does not apply to those who cannot make it in time due to external circumstances and are able to present physical evidence of such situation.
A patron can only file in one complaint per case. One can revoke the complaint if the committee has yet to come to a resolution. Once revoked, the same complaint cannot be filed in again.
If representatives of the committee have common interests with the unit or personnel that the complaint has been filed against, then the representatives should avoid the meeting. The representatives that avoid the meeting do not count into the representatives present.
The committee meetings are held in private. When needed, the committee can invite the plaintiff, the defendant, the defendant unit, or other related personnel to the meeting.
Once a complaint has been filed, any measures taken against the plaintiff will be paused, and the plaintiff will temporarily regain any rights or privileges in using the library facilities and collections that has been taken away by the library. Before the committee comes to a decision, the library cannot incur any punishment onto the plaintiff during the decision period.
The committee has to come to a decision and form a resolution within thirty days of receiving the complaint. The decision period can be extended when needed and the plaintiff should be notified.
The resolution formed by the committee should be sent to and signed by the patron via double-registered mail. As an alternative, the resolution can be handed to the patron via his/her unit. The patron should also be notified by email at the same time. A copy of the resolution should be sent to the main library and signed by the Director's Office.
NTHU