A blog to keep up on what's happening for teens at Brooks Memorial Library including: • new books • events • resources available • fun website suggestions • ... and more.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

ILL = Inter-Library Loan


No, it doesn’t mean that you can borrow a library! But it might mean that you can get your hands on just about any book you want. Now, isn’t that exciting? There are a few rules and limitations (see pamphlet on the reference desk) but basically you fill out a white card with as much information as you have (author, title, publisher etc.) and then the ILL team searches for the book at other libraries. Then they send off an e-mail requesting that the book be mailed to Brooks. Hopefully you get it within two weeks, but you'll need to be patient. A little known fact is that books are not the only item that can be requested. You could get a video, CD, or DVD as well.
And did you know that there are libraries that have some "out of the ordinary" collections? I hear that there is one library in Iowa that loans out cake pans! I triple dare someone to try and ILL a cake pan!! Okay, just kidding! But ILL is there to meet your needs and is a great tool for expanding the items available to you to help you meet your information needs.