Interlibrary Loan

Request an Item

Interlibrary loan is a service provided to Earlham and Bethany community members to help them gain access to materials that are not available in the Earlham Libraries. Interlibrary loan is provided free of charge to all Earlham and Bethany students, faculty and staff. Library patrons not currently enrolled or employed at Earlham or Bethany are not eligible.

Borrowing Guidelines

Submitting a Request

Interlibrary loan requests may be submitted in three ways:

  • Complete an online interlibrary loan request form for either books or articles.
  • After finding relevant materials in an EBSCOhost database (e.g. Academic Search Premier) or a FirstSearch database (e.g. WorldCat), click on the Interlibrary Loan/ILL button in the citation and fill out the request form.
  • Fill out a paper form, available from the ILL window or circulation desk. Paper forms may take longer to process.

It is the patron's responsibility to provide a complete bibliographic citation to aid us in finding the material. (See a librarian for assistance.) Incomplete requests or requests for items available in our collection will be returned to the requestor.

Please Allow at Least Two Weeks for Your Request to be Filled

The library staff attempts to fill all requests as quickly as possible. The time needed to fill a request depends upon several factors, including the difficulty of the request, the location and policy of the lending library, and the number of requests to be processed.

Loan Periods

Photocopied articles are mailed to the user and may be kept.

The circulation time for books and other items is dependent upon the policy of the lending library, and can range anywhere from one to four weeks.

Some items may be loaned with additional restrictions, such as for use in the library only.

Renewal requests must be submitted three days before the item is due. Approval for renewal depends upon the policy of the lending library.

What Can be Requested

Placing a request does not guarantee that an item can be obtained. Several factors, such as the policies of the lending library, the rareness of an item, and copyright restrictions can prevent us from fulfilling a request. The items most difficult to obtain are:

  • Theses
  • Videos
  • Reference books
  • Newly-published books
  • Rare items held by only a few libraries
  • Archival or genealogy materials
  • Newspaper articles

The following material may not be requested:

  • More than 15 active requests for one person at any one time
  • Duplicates of materials available in Earlham College Libraries
  • Assigned course materials such as textbooks, reading lists, and reserve items
  • Computer software
  • E-books

Costs

The library will assume the borrowing charges for all materials up to $20. Overdue fines will be charged at the rate of $1.00 per day beginning the day after the material is due and continuing for every day the library is open until the item is returned.

Notification

Borrowers will be notified by email or campus mail when materials arrive. Items should be picked up at the Lilly Library circulation desk or the ILL window.

Violations

Patrons who have not picked up their interlibrary loan materials, or who have repeatedly returned items late may be denied further interlibrary loan privileges.

Lending Guidelines

Earlham College accepts request received from other libraries via OCLC, fax, and ALA forms received by mail.

The loan period is for four weeks, and items may be renewed for an additional three weeks unless another patron has placed a hold on the item.

Materials not available for interlibrary loan:

  • Reference materials
  • Reserve materials
  • Periodical issues or volumes (article photocopies are provided)
  • Archival materials
  • Genealogy materials
  • Bulky or fragile items that are difficult or too expensive to ship
  • Videos

Charges

We do not charge Indiana libraries or libraries with which we have established a reciprocal agreement. For all other libraries we charge $15 IFM or $20 if by invoice.

For lost books we charge the replacement cost of the item plus a $10 processing fee. The total minimum replacement fee is $50.00.