Terms of Service

Last Updated: September 13, 2026

A Simple Summary

Biblioteca Brasil is a membership lending library for Portuguese-language books. You pay a membership fee, borrow books by mail, and return them with the prepaid label we provide. The books remain our property while you have them. Please take care of them and return them in good condition. If a book is lost, comes back severely damaged, or isn't returned within 120 days, we charge a flat $15 replacement fee. You can change, pause, or cancel your membership at any time.

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Biblioteca Brasil ("we," "our," "us," or "the Library") governing your use of our website and lending library service (the "Service").

By creating an account, becoming a member, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract to create a membership account. Accounts are intended for family use, and many titles in our collection are chosen for children, but the account must be created and managed by an adult.

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information, including a valid shipping address, and to keep it up to date. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account and for keeping your login secure.

A single account may be shared by members of one household. Accounts may not be shared across different households.

3. Membership, Plans, and Billing

Membership plans determine how many books you may have out at once (for example, one or three books at a time) and are described when you choose or change your plan.

Membership fees, when applicable, are billed on a recurring basis through a secure third-party payment processor. We do not store full payment card details on our own systems. By subscribing, you authorize us and our payment processor to charge the applicable fees and any amounts you owe under these Terms, such as replacement fees.

You may change, pause, or cancel your plan at any time from your account. Changes take effect according to the terms of your plan. Except where required by law, membership fees already paid are generally non-refundable, and pausing or canceling does not relieve you of amounts already owed.

4. Borrowing, Shipments, and Returns

The Service lets you build a shipment by adding available titles from your account. You are limited to one shipment per calendar month. After adding books to a shipment, you must select "Ship" to send it; simply adding books does not send them.

We prepare shipments and send them with tracking and a prepaid return label. When you are finished with your books, use the prepaid label to return them. There is no fixed due date for casual returns, but the limits in Section 6 apply.

Availability is not guaranteed. When a title is unavailable, you may be able to join a waitlist, and copies are allocated as they are returned.

5. Library Property and Care of Books

All books and materials remain the property of Biblioteca Brasil at all times. You receive a temporary right to borrow them and do not acquire any ownership interest.

You agree to keep borrowed books in good condition and to return them in the condition you received them, allowing for reasonable, ordinary wear. Please do not write in, mark, or otherwise alter the books. If a book arrives already damaged, please let us know so we are not led to attribute the damage to you.

6. Lost, Damaged, or Late Returns

To keep our collection circulating for everyone, the following applies:

If a book is not returned within 120 days, is lost, or comes back severely damaged and no longer usable, we charge a flat replacement fee of $15 (USD) per book.
Books returned in good, usable condition — including normal, minor wear — are not charged.
We may authorize the replacement fee through your payment method on file. If we cannot collect it, outstanding amounts may prevent further borrowing until resolved.

We may, at our discretion, waive or reduce a fee, for example where damage occurred in transit or in other reasonable circumstances.

7. Shipping Area

During our current early ("alpha") phase, shipping may be limited to select areas. As the Service expands, we plan to ship anywhere in the continental United States. We will let you know the areas we currently serve during signup and in your account.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Service only for its intended, personal, non-commercial purpose. You agree not to:

Resell, rent, or commercially exploit borrowed books or the Service.
Misrepresent your identity, address, or household.
Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or its systems.
Use the Service in violation of any applicable law.

9. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using the Service and cancel your membership at any time.

We may suspend or terminate your account or access to the Service if you violate these Terms, fail to pay amounts owed, misuse the collection, or where reasonably necessary to protect the Library, its members, or its materials. Upon termination, you must promptly return any books in your possession, and any amounts you owe, including replacement fees, remain payable.

10. Disclaimers

The Service and all books and materials are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not guarantee that any particular title will be available, that shipments will arrive within a specific time, or that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Biblioteca Brasil and the individuals operating it will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or data, arising out of or related to your use of the Service. To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the amount of membership fees you paid to us in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

12. Changes to the Service and These Terms

We may modify or discontinue parts of the Service, and we may update these Terms from time to time as our service, technology, or legal requirements change.

When we make changes to these Terms, we will post the updated version and revise the Last Updated date above. Material changes will apply prospectively. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

13. Governing Law

Biblioteca Brasil is based in Washington State, United States. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and you agree that the state and federal courts located in Washington will have jurisdiction over any dispute not otherwise resolved.

14. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at contact@bibliotecabrasil.org.