Interlibrary Loan

Purpose

In the interest of providing quality service, libraries have an obligation to obtain material to meet the informational needs of customers when local resources do not. The Woodward Public Library recognizes that the sharing of material between libraries is an integral element in the provision of library service and believes it to be essential to the vitality of all libraries. The library affirms that interlibrary loan is an adjunct to, not a substitute for, the library’s collection. The library will exhaust local resources first before requesting materials outside the library.

Definition: Interlibrary loan (ILL) is the process by which a library requests material from or supplies material to another library.

Borrowing from Other Libraries

Eligibility

Customers must have a valid Woodward Public Library card and be in good standing to request material via ILL.
First-time cardholders and temporary cardholders are not eligible for ILL.

Confidentiality

The confidentiality of library customers is protected by Oklahoma law and will be maintained in all ILL transactions.

Requests for ILL Service

  • We accept ILL requests via fax, US mail, phone, email, or in person.
  • To request a book, provide the author, title, and if possible, the year of publication.
  • To request a journal article, provide the journal title, date of publication, page number of the article, volume number, author, and title.
  • Requests for photocopies must comply with U.S. copyright law.
  • Photocopies may be kept by the customer.

Request Restrictions

A customer may have no more than five interlibrary loan requests active at one time.

Some types of materials may not available for lending by library institutions:

  • Current bestsellers or material with new publication dates
  • Rare or valuable material
  • Genealogy material
  • Local history material
  • College textbooks
  • Reference material
  • Periodicals and newspapers
  • Audiovisual material (microfilm or fiche, videos, CDs, audiobooks, DVDs, cassettes, etc.)
  • Software

The Woodward Public Library will not borrow these items:

  • Property of the Woodward Public Library, unless lost or long overdue
  • Materials in violation of copyright law

Copyright Compliance

The Woodward Public Library complies with Federal copyright law (Title 17, United States Code) that governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of the copyrighted material.
Requests for photocopies must include the copyright warning and the library user must acknowledge awareness of the copyright warning. The library may request only a total of five articles a year from the last five years of a specific magazine.

Availability of Interlibrary Loan Material

The time required to receive requested material can vary considerably, depending on the availability of material, location of the lending institution, and shipping method. Generally, interlibrary loan requests are received within two to four weeks.
A customer should indicate a deadline for receipt of material and whether receipt after the said deadline is acceptable. ASAP is not admissible.

Circulation of Interlibrary Loan Material

The loan period and renewal options are set by the lending institution.
To allow time for shipment, the Woodward Public Library’s due date for interlibrary loan material reflects a date of five days before that of the lending institution.
The library will strictly observe any conditions for use of loaned materials that are imposed by the lending library (short loan period, in-library use only, no renewals, etc.).
A customer must notify the library of an interlibrary loan renewal four days before the due date.

Fees and Overdue Charges

There is no charge for placing an interlibrary loan request unless the lending institution imposes a fee. However, the Woodward Public Library does charge a return postage fee of $3.00 per item.
Customers who request an item via interlibrary loan and fail to pick it up within 10 days of notification will be assessed a $5 fee for each unclaimed item in addition to any fees charged by the lending institution. This also applies to customers who cancel a submitted request. The overdue fines for ILL material are $.25 per day, per item, with no maximum amount. Overdue interlibrary loan material will follow the same notice procedure as stated in the Circulation Policy. If an interlibrary loan item is lost or damaged, the customer will be responsible for the replacement cost of the item and/or fees assessed by the lending library.

Lending to Other Libraries

It is the policy of the Woodward Public Library to function whenever possible as a provider of materials in ODL’s Oklahoma Telecommunications Interlibrary System (OTIS). Woodward Public Library reserves the right to refuse to lend materials or to restrict the use of materials sent to a borrowing institution.

Circulation Requests

Library material loaned to other libraries will have a checkout period of one month. Renewals of these items, which may not exceed two weeks, are subject to the local need of the Woodward Public Library.

Fees and Overdue Charges

As a professional courtesy, the Woodward Public Library does not charge overdue fines against the borrowing institution. However, charges for lost or damaged material will be assessed.