公共图书馆“停止提供服务”行为的法律属性及适用规则

On the Legal Attributes of Public Libraries’ Refusal of Providing Services and Its Applicable Rules

公共图书馆为公众提供图书文化服务是其法定义务,无故不得拒绝或停止。然而,当读者或图书馆服务接受者具有违反图书馆秩序、破坏图书馆设施设备等行为时,公共图书馆有权对其作出“停止提供服务”的决定。公共图书馆作出的“停止提供服务”行为具有公法属性,是一种公法上的行政处罚行为,必须严格遵循适用规则。

Public libraries have a statutory duty to provide cultural services for the public,and they should not refuse or stop to do it for no reason. However,when a reader violates the regulations or damages the facilities in public libraries,the latter have the authority to stop providing cultural services for him. Such a conduct should be regarded as an administrative punishment in the field of public law. However,it might lead to significant violations of readers’basic cultural rights as prescribed in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, public libraries should strictly follow the applicable rules when making such a decision. And it is necessary for public libraries to improve the applicable rules, so as to prevent the abuse of the punishment and protect the citizens’basic cultural rights as well.