Interlibrary Loan Policy

Requests

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a service that lets you obtain materials or photocopies from other libraries when the materials are not available in the Anderson County Library system. We will attempt to borrow any items, with the following exceptions:

  • Items published within the past twelve months. You may request that the library purchase such materials.
  • Class textbooks.
  • Entire copies of magazines or periodicals. If the article you need is not available through one of our databases, we will attempt to get you a copy of the article through ILL.
  • Items owned by the Anderson County Library, unless those items have been lost, withdrawn or will not be available for a long period of time. Reference or genealogical materials owned by the Library are not eligible for ILL.

Any person with a standard Anderson County Library card may request ILL materials. Reciprocal-agreement borrowers must go to their home library for ILL services.

The library cardholder may not owe fees over $3, and all account information must be current. ILL requests will not be accepted until problems with the account are corrected.

Patrons may have up to five active ILL requests at any time. Requests may be placed by telephone (864-260-4500), by email to ill@andersonlibrary.org, or in person: at the Reference Desk on the Second Floor of the Main Library, or at the service desk at a branch library.

We cannot predict the exact day your item will arrive.Please allow six weeksfor delivery. Because many libraries do not lend audiovisual items, such requests are more difficult to fill. You have seven days to pick up any requested ILL item. All items are due three weeks from the date they are checked out. Items may be picked up at the Circulation Desk at the Main Library or at the service desk at branch libraries.

You may request a renewal from the lending library no later than one week before the due date. We will let you know whether the lending library will allow the renewal.

Fees

The Anderson County Library does not charge you to obtain your ILL requests, but some lending libraries will charge for loans and/or copies. You will be asked when placing your request what amount you are willing to pay. If the lending library does charge a fee, your account will be billed and the fee must be paid before you use your library card. Since the Library cannot be responsible for fees imposed by the lending library, this applies even if you do not pick up the item.

We cannot estimate charges or make any refunds on ILL fees.

Habitually returning ILL items later than the due date, failing to pick up items sent, or otherwise failing to fulfill the above requirements may result in the loss of your ILL privileges.