Laenutusteks

Laenutusteks is an Estonian term used in library, archival, and related information services to indicate that an item is intended for lending to the public. In catalog records and policy documents, laenutusteks marks show that the material can be borrowed rather than used only on-site. The word is formed from laenutus, meaning lending or loan, with the suffix -eks, which expresses purpose or suitability, yielding “for lending” or “intended for lending.”

In practice, laenutusteks appears in library metadata, shelving labels, and access notes to distinguish borrowable materials from those designated for reference or on-site use. It can apply to a range of resources, including books, periodicals, multimedia items, and, where supported by the institution, some digital lending items. The exact borrowing terms associated with laenutusteks items—such as loan periods, renewals, and user eligibility—are determined by local library policies and may vary between institutions and collections.

The term is part of professional library jargon in Estonian and is most often encountered in official documentation, catalogs, and user interfaces. While widely understood among library staff and users in Estonia, laenutusteks is not typically used outside library and archival contexts. For non-specialists, phrases like “for lending” or “borrowable item” may be used as equivalents in other languages.

See also: library cataloging, lending policies, metadata, Estonian library terminology.