Hazen Memorial Library Interlibrary Loan Policy

 

I. Purpose The purpose of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is to expand the range and scope of materials available to library patrons. If the Hazen Memorial Library (HML) and the statewide Commonwealth Catalog does not have the material that a user needs within their collections, the ILL staff will attempt to borrow materials through the Massachusetts Library System Interlibrary Loan consortium, a mediated ILL service.

II. Who May Borrow The staff will accept Interlibrary loan requests from any user with a valid HML library card in good standing. Patrons with fines over $10.00 or overdue materials may not request ILL materials until the fines or fees are paid and materials are returned. The library reserves the right to refuse ILL services to any patron who damages other libraries' materials, has a history of overdue materials, or otherwise violates ILL policies, therefore jeopardizing the ability of the HML to borrow materials from other libraries.

III. Charges There are no charges for items borrowed within the statewide library delivery system. In the case of mediated ILL, items will be delivered via the US Postal Service. In these instances, the Hazen Memorial Library charges a $4.00 postage fee for items received through USPS to help allay the cost of return postage. Such fees must be paid before an item can be ordered. Fees for items that are not picked up will not be refunded to the patron. Patrons can attempt to terminate an ILL request, but if the lending library has already mailed the item(s) requested, it is the responsibility of the patron to pay the postage fee. If the patron pays a postage fee for an item that cannot be supplied, the Hazen Memorial Library will refund the unused fee to the patron. Any costs billed to the Library for articles received from another library at a patron's request will be passed on to that patron. When requests for copies are made and the lending library sends the entire book for HML staff to make the requested copies, the patron will be charged for copies at fifteen (15) cents per page, as well as for the return postage fee for the book. Patrons are responsible for any damages or lost materials per the policies of the lending libraries.

IV. Items that May be Borrowed Books, magazine and journal articles, audio books, video recordings, and music CDs are normally available through ILL. There is a limit of three (3) mediated ILL requests in process at a given time for any individual. This includes requests that are pending, as well as materials that the user currently has borrowed through Interlibrary Loan. The library director has the authority to waive this restriction for research purposes but the Library also reserves the right to have a patron pay the postage fees for such requests in advance.

V. Items that May Not be Borrowed Reference materials, bound volumes or individual issues of magazines and newspapers, software, and rare or archival materials are generally not available for lending by other libraries.

VI. Items that Hazen Memorial Library will NOT loan to other institutions Reference or Reserve materials; books that are out of print; bound volumes or individual issues of magazines and newspapers; or, rare local history or archival materials.

VII. Processing The time required to fill interlibrary loan requests can vary between two to four weeks. Items may take more or less time to arrive. Patrons should specify a date if they have a time-sensitive ILL request. For some patrons, borrowing directly from another nearby library may be a preferable option.

VIII. Notification Patrons may select their preference to be notified by text message, telephone or email when the requested ILL material is available.

IX. Due Dates/Renewals The library lending the material sets the due date, and loan periods can vary. Renewals are only permitted if the lending library allows such an extension. Users are urged to return materials on time in order to ensure that lending libraries continue to share their resources with our library. Hazen Memorial Library will loan materials to other institutions with the same loan periods that we extend to our patrons.

X. Return of Materials Items that were borrowed through the mediated ILL consortium must be returned directly to the Hazen Memorial Library, not to the lending institution or to another area library. For record-keeping purposes, ILL items should not be returned in the book drop; they should be returned to the circulation desk.

XI. Items Not Picked Up Materials not picked up by the patron by the date the item is due for return will be sent back to the lending library. The patron will still be liable for the return charges, plus any mailing fees charged by the lender.

XII. Copyright Compliance The Hazen Memorial Library adheres to the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States 2008, the CoNTU Guidelines (National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works) and the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). The CoNTU guidelines, a set of rules established for copying for Interlibrary Loan stipulate, in part, that:

  • 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 six (6) articles a year from the last five years of a specific magazine.

 

Approved by the Hazen Memorial Library Board of Trustees on 12/15/2015