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Lumberton Public Library

Lumberton Public Library Interlibrary Loan Policy

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 Lumberton Public Library (LPL) does not have the material that a user needs within its collection, the ILL staff will attempt to borrow materials through the Texas Navigator Group Catalog and the Worldcat Resource Sharing/ OCLC WorldShare Interlibrary Loan consortium.

II. Who May Borrow    The staff will accept Interlibrary loan requests from any user with a valid LPL library card and a viable 6 months check out history.  ILL forms must be filled out in person. Patrons with fines over $5.00 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 Lumberton Public Library to borrow materials from other libraries.

III. Charges    The LPL charges a $3.00 postage fee for each item 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 Lumberton Public 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 LPL staff to make the requested copies, the patron will be charged for copies at ten 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) 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.  Each ILL request must be made on a separate ILL form.

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 Lumberton Public Library will NOT loan to other institutions    Reference or Reserve materials (due to high demand from Lumberton Public Library patrons); books that are out of print; books that are one year old or newer from the publication or accession date (due to high demand from Lumberton Public Library patrons); audio-visual materials (due to high demand from Lumberton Public Library patrons); software (due to high demand from Lumberton Public Library patrons); bound volumes or individual issues of magazines and newspapers; or, rare 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 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 greatly. 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.  Lumberton Public Library will loan materials to other institutions with the same loan periods that we extend to our patrons.

X. Return of Materials    Items must be returned to the Lumberton Public Library, not directly to the lending institution. 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 extra mailing fees charged by the lender.

XII. Copyright Compliance    The Lumberton Public Library adheres to the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States 2001, the CaNTU Guidelines (National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works) and the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). The CaNTU 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.