Policy on Returning, Suppressing, or Destroying Materials on Request

The following statement of policy was ratified by Harvard’s University Library Council on April 24, 2008.

Harvard’s libraries acquire and provide access to information in order to support a broad range of scholarly activities. Many items are acquired for long-term  retention: permanence is part of their purpose. The Harvard University Library and its constituent units from time to time receive requests to return, destroy, delete, suppress, or modify particular items that have already been accessioned. This policy codifies our responses to challenges that involve hard-copy holdings.

Requests from parties with no immediate association to the work, most typically based on objections to content, are routinely not honored—though such requests may trigger decisions to reshelve the pieces in controlled locations.

Requests from the producers or previous owners of library materials can raise different issues, particularly when the item contains information that the producer or previous owner deems erroneous or problematic. Concerns over confidentiality or privacy, questions of intellectual property subject to third-party claims, matters of local or national security, and materials under legal challenge are among those that may also fall within this category.


1. Library Acquisitions

When one of Harvard’s libraries has acquired an item that has been made available to the general public, a producer’s request for return, suppression, or destruction should normally be refused insofar as the item is now part of the record of publication and therefore has a place in the collection. In such circumstances, the library should openly document the perceived problem in the catalog record and, where appropriate, also in the item itself. Occasionally the library will be asked to tip or paste in revised texts. As a general practice, such additions should be accommodated in ways that do not efface or obscure the original version.

Some library holdings may have been deemed illegal by governments or agencies from within whose jurisdictions they emerged on grounds that they are, for example, subversive, libelous, obscene, blasphemous, or invasive of privacy. In the absence of a judicial ruling enforceable by US courts, such resources will be retained in the collection. The library will not ordinarily divulge the sources of any such materials, particularly if such information might put the source at risk. Copies of the documentation related to these requests should be forwarded to the local library administration, as well as retained within the unit itself.

Claims may occasionally arise with regard to library holdings that are alleged to have been stolen from past owners, looted during times of conflict, or otherwise misappropriated—regardless of whether the library’s records indicate an unimpeachable source. The legal and ethical frameworks for response are in such cases not always clear.

The library will, as always, comply with judicial rulings enforceable by US courts. Its more general stance will be to respect claims for which there is clear substantiating evidence. Where practicable, arrangements for repatriation or restitution will include provisions for the library to prepare and retain copies of the material(s) in question.

2. Donations

Harvard’s libraries will resolve donor requests to return items conveyed as gifts on a case-by-case basis. The library will normally resist returning items that have been transferred to its possession. However, if the donor presents a reasonable cause for the request (e.g., the item was donated by mistake), then the item should be returned. Donors are responsible for any tax obligations that they may incur as a result of such returns, as determined by IRS regulations. (Most library units typically keep no records for unsolicited gifts, nor for the disposition of gift materials that are not retained for the collection.)

3. Deposits

The library is obliged to return, destroy, or delete items at the direction of the owner or issuing agency in cases in which it is storing and making accessible material that it does not technically own. In these situations, the library should ensure that the request has been issued by the owner or an authorized agent of the owner.

In the case of the Federal Depository Library Program, for example,instructions to return, destroy, or delete materials should be confirmed with the Government Printing Office if they are received from a separate body. In the absence of specific instructions from the GPO (or a judicial directive), the library should not comply with such a request. Similar confirmation should be sought for materials that are on deposit from a private individual or an organization. This is particularly true for long-term deposits, or in cases where the initial transfe agreements are unclear or ambiguous.

4. Theses and Dissertations

The library will comply with policies established by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and by other Harvard schools and faculties as appropriate, in limiting or otherwise placing conditions on access to Harvard theses and dissertations. Specific timetables or arrangements to lift any restrictions should be set forth at the time of accession. Theses and dissertations from other universities will be treated as any other library holdings, as described in other sections of this document.

5. Digital and Internet Resources

This policy applies to library holdings in their tangible, physical manifestations. Separate policies, addressing questions that will arise with regard to resources in the digital realm, will be referenced from this document as they are promulgated. (Such policies may eventually encompass library-based institutional repositories at Harvard, resources harvested or otherwise captured from the Internet, materials that are digitized from our holdings, and materials placed on reserve.)

Unit heads may normally apply this policy without further consultation. In cases of doubt, the final decision on whether to return, destroy, delete, suppress, or modify information will be made by the Director of the Harvard University Library or his/her delegate, in consultation as needed with the relevant unit head(s) and the University’s Office of the General Counsel. All decisions should be documented for the record.

This policy may be modified upon the consensus of the University Library Council.

The full text of the Policy on Returning, Suppressing, or Destroying Materials on Request will be retained on the Harvard University Library web site at http://hul.harvard.edu/resources/policy.prsdm200804.html .