Interlibrary Loan

Our library purchases the books and materials that we believe will be the most useful, and most requested, by our community. Because of limited resources and space, we can’t purchase everything that is published, but we can usually obtain it from another library. This is called interlibrary loan. Our library is part of a vast network of participating libraries that are willing to loan out materials to other libraries. Our library uses SILO Interlibrary loan to borrow items from other Iowa libraries and OCLC Interlibrary loan to borrow items from libraries around the United States and other countries.

If we don’t have the items or materials that you are looking for, ask library staff if it may be available from another library. 

To use our interlibrary loan service, you will need:

1. to have an account in good standing

2. to provide the title and author of the item you are requesting.

3. pay any fees or deposits (required by the lending library) to send the requested materials. This is not common and will          be communicated prior to requesting items. 

Most of the items are delivered to our library within 2 weeks by IAShares, a statewide courier service. Loan periods may vary, but most are for at least 2 weeks. Once an interlibrary loan arrives, library staff will notify you by phone and the item needs to be picked up within one week. Items not picked up within one week will be returned to the lending library.

Read our full Interlibrary Loan Policy.