Interlibrary Loan
An Interlibrary
Loan is a transaction in which material from
one library is made available to another
library upon request.
DEFINITION: An Interlibrary Loan is a
transaction in which material from one
library is made available to another library
upon request. The term "material" includes
all formats, i.e., books, photocopies,
non-fiction, videos, CDs, DVDs etc.
PURPOSE: The purpose of Interlibrary
Loan is to obtain materials not available in
the Reading Public Library's collection. In
compliance with the Pennsylvania
Interlibrary Code, the Reading Public
Library will NOT request any materials
already contained in its own collection.
This includes books on loan to patrons or
system libraries, reference materials,
Pennsylvania Room materials, or materials in
other non-circulating collections.
The Reading Public Library has endorsed the
Pennsylvania Interlibrary Loan Code (revised
1994) and adheres to the policies and
procedures as outlined in the 1995
Pennsylvania Interlibrary Loan Procedures
Manual.
The RPL staff shall make every effort to
utilize the resources of its own library
before resorting to InterLibrary Loan.
SCOPE: Any adult patron (in good
standing) may make a request for an
Interlibrary Loan item. As a district
library center, the Reading Public Library
will supply requests to other public
libraries in Berks County from its own
collection and will request materials from
libraries outside the district for items not
in its collection.
In compliance with the Pennsylvania
Interlibrary Loan Code, RPL will NOT request
the following kinds of materials:
- Best sellers and
newly published titles (within 6 months)
- Dissertations from
the granting institution
- Titles owned locally
(within Berks County Library System)
- Issues/volumes of
periodicals and journals
- Reference materials
- Books-on-tape,
fiction videos, compact discs, DVDs
- Rare books, special
collection materials and archival
materials
- School/Course
materials
- Licensed computer
software datafiles
Large/oversized volumes or
multiple volume sets should not be requested
on Interlibrary Loan, if it can be avoided.
This type of material is difficult and
expensive to package and ship.
PLEASE ALLOW:
7-10 business days (if the requested
interlibrary loan material is found within
the state of Pennsylvania and is available
for shipping by the lending library).
2-3 weeks (if the requested interlibrary
loan material is being shipped to the
Reading Public Library from another state).
COSTS: Although every effort will be
made to obtain requested materials at no
cost from other district libraries, regional
resource centers, etc., any costs incurred
acquiring Interlibrary Loan materials will
be passed on to the library patron.
Therefore, please be sure to indicate on the
Interlibrary Loan form how much you are
willing to pay for a requested item. Lending
fees range from $5.00 to $20.00.
CONFIDENTIALITY: As with the
circulation records of libraries,
Interlibrary Loan requests are confidential.
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