INTERLIBRARY LOAN

This service allows for materials such as microfilm/fiche, books or journal articles that are not in the Alexandria Library system to be borrowed from other libraries. To request an interlibrary loan, you must either live or work in the City of Alexandria and have a valid library card with no fees.

There is a $5 non-refundable fee per request and a limit of 5 requests per borrower including pending and circulating items. The fee must be paid at the time of the request.  If additional fees are charged by the lending library, those fees are also paid by the borrower.

Some items owned by OCLC libraries may not be available for interlibrary loan.  Requests cannot be filled for audio-visual materials; most genealogical materials; reference books; books published in the current copyright year; issues of periodicals or newspapers; old, rare or valuable material; scripts, screenplays, libretti, and scores; and titles owned by the Alexandria Library.

Interlibrary loan requests can be made in person at the reference desk at any of the Alexandria branch libraries. The average request takes two weeks. The length of the loan is determined by the lending library. Renewals are at the discretion of the lending library, and no item may be renewed more than one time. Renewal requests must be made at least 5 days before the due date at the reference desk. The renewal request can be made either over the telephone or in person.

Items borrowed through InterLibrary Loan with a current dollar value of over $350 will be placed ON RESERVE at the pickup location for the requestor to review at any time in the library. These items cannot be removed from library premises.

Interlibrary loans should be returned to the information desk and should not be placed in the book drop.

Overdue fines for interlibrary loans are $1 a day. The cost for Lost or Damaged materials is determined by the lending institution; payment is the responsibility of the borrower.