Librarian shall be recorded and preserved in the said libraries and shall be available for 
inspection. 
(2) Loans of records or objects belonging to the Malta Libraries outside Malta may not be made 
without the written permission of the Minister given following consultation with the National 
Librarian and the Council. 
9. (1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act or of any regulation issued hereunder, 
documents, publications, records and works in the libraries under the control of the National 
Librarian, shall be accessible to the public. 
(2) The National Librarian may, however, on the advice of the Council, limit access by the 
public to documents, publications, records, works and objects under his custody where: 
(a) their fragility so warrants; or 
(b) the exigencies of the libraries make it necessary. 
(3) The National Librarian shall strive to make any usable exact copies available in the most 
appropriate format such as in digital or microfilm format. 
(4) All applications for copies of or extracts from documents, publications, records or works in 
any of the libraries shall be made to the National Librarian, who is hereby authorised to issue, 
attest and authenticate all copies of, and extracts from, such documents. 
(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, every copy of a record issued as a true copy 
duly sealed with the seal of the Malta Libraries and signed by the National Librarian shall, for 
the purposes of any law, be deemed an authentic copy, and for the purpose of evidence in any 
court or tribunal be deemed equivalent to the original. 
10. (1) The publisher of every publication printed or published in Malta shall immediately 
before such document is made available to the public, deliver free of charge one copy of such 
publication to the depository libraries. In the case of the library of the University of Malta, the 
copy due to it shall be deposited within two weeks of the established request having reached the 
publisher. 
(2) Each such copy shall comprise the whole work with all maps and illustrations and inclusive 
of any application software and the full set of user and technical documentation and any other 
addenda belonging thereto, finished and coloured in the same manner as the best copies of the 
work are published. 
(3) When the copies of a publication are forwarded by post, postage shall be either free or at the 
expense of the National Librarian. 
(4) During the first fifteen days of January, April, July and8 [CAP. 511. MALTA LIBRARIES 
October of every year, every printer and publisher of printed or analogue documents shall send 
to the National Librarian a return showing the author and title of every publication which has 
been printed or published by that printer or publisher during the immediately preceding three 
complete months or, as the case may be, a nil return in respect of that period. 
(5) Any person or body corporate who fails to comply with any of the provisions of this article 
shall be liable to a fine as the Minister may from time to time determine in accordance with 
article 33: 
Provided that article 31 shall not apply where any person or body corporate fails to comply with 
any of the provisions of this article as provided in subarticle (5). 
95