Interlibrary Loan

Bluefield College faculty, staff, and students may use interlibrary loan. No one library owns every book or periodical in existence, so when you are doing research you may have to request a book or article through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The conditions of this service are governed by the National Interlibrary Loan Code, 1993, the Virginia Interlibrary Loan Code, 1989, the Copyright Law, Title 17, U.S. Code, and by the regulations of the individual lending libraries. The following information further explains our Interlibrary Loan Policy.

NOTE: To search for books in over 10,000 libraries worldwide, go to the database FirstSearch and click on WorldCat. Do an advanced search, limiting to English and books.

1. Give yourself at least two weeks for the materials to be delivered to you. Books are generally mailed via the United States Postal Service so that slows down receipt time. Articles can be faxed, but this might not be possible every single time, so give yourself two weeks lead time also. (Remember, you want to order this AT LEAST two weeks before you need it -- and that would be well before your paper or other research project is due).

2. Though we can fill the majority of requests, there are times when it is impossible to get the materials for you. This can be due to any number of reasons and if one library can't fill the request our computer automatically goes to another library in the computer-generated queue but that still doesn't guarantee we can always get it. Because of this you might want to make sure you have several resources which you can use and not depend only on this one book or article.

3. Because Easley Library subscribes to the National Interlibrary Loan Code you will be limited to the number of requests you can send in at one time (5), and also be limited to the number of articles from one journal title. With the reference librarian's permission, you may request additional materials. You may need to discuss your research with a librarian if you are requiring more materials than we deem necessary.

4. The majority of things you order through ILL will be free. However, on occasion another library may charge when they fill journal article requests and you will be required to pay that fee. Please be aware of these possible charges when requesting these types of materials.

5. All interlibrary loan materials which are due between December 10 and January 10 of each year will be retrieved from our patrons and returned to the lending library before the fall semester ends. In addition all interlibrary loan materials which are due after May 10 of each year will be retrieved from our patrons and returned to the lending library. Exceptions may be made by the reference librarian.

6. Fines for overdue Interlibrary Loan books are 50¢ per day.

7. Forms for requesting books and journal articles can be obtained from the Reference Desk.