Borrowing Terms
Terms and conditions (i.e. due date, renewals) for items received by interlibrary loan are set by the lending library. Sherrod Library staff cannot change these conditions. Failure to return materials on time can damage our relationship with other libraries and possibly prevent us from borrowing from them in the future. Materials over one month overdue will result in your interlibrary loan privileges being suspended until the item is returned. Repeated failure to return material on time may result in longer suspension of privileges.
Interlibrary loan requests are subject to recall by the lending library. When an item is recalled, please promptly return the item to the Ask Us Desk. In most cases, we can submit a new request for the item to be borrowed from another library.
Distance Education
Sherrod Library Interlibrary Loan Department will mail books to any student living more than 30 miles from campus. You are responsible for either physically returning the item to Sherrod Library or paying the shipping expense to return the book using USPS library rate.
Replacement Charges
Sherrod Library’s interlibrary loan service is provided free of charge. Unless the Interlibrary Loan Department is charged replacement fees by a lending library due to damage (i.e. marking in book, water damage, etc.) or nonreturn of an interlibrary loan item. If a replacement fee is charged, it will be added to your library account and payment is expected within eight weeks. A hold will be placed on the user’s university account until the item is returned or the replacement fee is paid. If unpaid after six months your interlibrary loan privileges will be suspended until the replacement fee is paid. The loss of multiple interlibrary loan books may result in a suspension of interlibrary loan privileges.
Interlibrary Loan Expenses
Some requests may incur copyright and request fees. These expenses are paid by Sherrod Library. In some cases, the library may not cover the cost to obtain the material (i.e. patron has previously received the article in the same calendar year or has requested more than five articles from the past five years).
Non-pickups
Sherrod Library pays shipping expenses to package and return the item to the lender and expenses to libraries that charge to borrow material from their collection. Please only request research items through the interlibrary loan service and check out items within 30 days of being placed on the hold shelf. After five non-pickups in one semester, your interlibrary loan privileges will be temporarily suspended for three months or until the patron reaches out to the interlibrary loan department regarding the issue.
Textbook Requests
Interlibrary Loan is not a reliable replacement for purchasing textbooks required in courses. Most libraries do not purchase textbooks and those that do often do not allow the newest editions to circulate through interlibrary loan. Please be aware that it often takes longer to receive textbooks due to more staff time required to locate a library that owns a copy eligible for interlibrary loan. For those we can fill, it often takes 6-8 weeks to locate and receive a textbook copy. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to keep the book for the entire semester as due dates are set by the lending library. Due to the staff time needed to process a request and expenses involved in borrowing materials, failure to pick up one textbook request will result in the patron’s future textbook requests being canceled.
This policy will be reviewed periodically and revised as needed.