Interlibrary Loan is a free service available to current Long Beach City College students, faculty, and staff. If the book or article you need for your academic research is not held in the Long Beach City College Library, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) can try to obtain it for you from other libraries, both in this country and abroad.

If you need to submit an ILL request, please submit your request online:

• Interlibrary Loan Book Request
• Interlibrary Loan Article Request

ILL Borrowing Policies

Eligibility

An interlibrary loan is available to all Long Beach City College faculty, staff, and students with a Long Beach City College identification card, current validation sticker, and a clear library record. This service is not extended to guest card holders, research affiliates, Friends of the Library, Long Beach City College Alumni, or mutual-use cardholders.

Interlibrary Loan Requests

• Interlibrary loan requests are accepted in-person at the Circulation Desk and Reference Desk. All requests are accepted for research purposes for items not held by Long Beach City College Library. 
• Requests are not accepted for recreational reading, currently required classroom textbooks, and items held by the Long Beach City College Library.
• Long Beach City College non-circulating library materials or items held on microform are considered available for use and may not be requested through Interlibrary Loan.
• Long Beach City College library materials not located on the shelf must be searched by the Circulation staff and declared missing before the interlibrary loan request is accepted.
• Requests for Long Beach City College library materials that are charged out are not accepted by the Interlibrary Loan. The patron is asked to place a Hold or Recall for the materials at the Circulation Desk.
• Requests are limited to 5 requests per person (weekly) for students and 7 requests per week for faculty. The purpose of this limit is to make the interlibrary loan service available to as many people as possible.
• Repeat requests for the same item by the same person are not accepted due to the high cost of interlibrary loan transactions. Consistently requested items such as this will be brought to the attention of Collection Development for possible purchase.

Borrower Fees

In support of the academic programs and research at Long Beach City College, the College Library normally requests materials from the free lender libraries or reciprocal libraries. If materials have charges or fees, it is the responsibility of the borrower or requestor to pay the charges imposed by the lending libraries for loans or photocopies.

ILL Renewals

• Renewal requests are not allowed on overdue materials. It is the patron’s responsibility to request a renewal, if needed, three days before the due date.
• Reciprocal loan arrangements with other libraries allow for only one renewal request per interlibrary loan item.
• Some libraries do not grant any renewals. Borrowed items from these libraries are stamped “non-renewable” on receipt of the interlibrary loan so the patron will be aware of the limitation when the material is picked up.

Patron Responsibilities

Overdue Materials

• The interlibrary loan files are checked on a weekly basis for overdue items.
• The first overdue notices are immediately sent to patrons for each item that is overdue. A fine of $0.25 per day after the due date will accrue for each item. There is a 3-day grace period which means patrons will not have to pay a fine if the items are returned one or three days after the due date. The fines for items returned four or more days after the due date will start accruing the day after the due date. A note indicating the $0.25 per day overdue fine will be on the interlibrary loan identification strap.
• Faculty is exempt from paying overdue fines but must pay replacement charges for lost or damaged books.
• Patrons are considered “delinquent” in WorldCat when materials are one week overdue. Delinquent patrons may not charge out any Long Beach City College library materials until the overdue interlibrary loan item is returned.
• A patron with any overdue interlibrary loan material may not submit additional interlibrary loan requests or pick up items previously ordered until the overdue is cleared.
• A second overdue notice is sent when the item is two weeks overdue.
• A bill is sent when the item is three weeks overdue or if the item has been lost or damaged. Students will have a hold placed on their banner records, which means registration privileges are suspended.
• When the item(s) are returned and paid for, then the PAC and banner holds are lifted and all library and registration privileges are restored.
• In order to alleviate the problem of overdue materials, patrons will be allowed to renew or reorder copies of interlibrary loan materials currently in their possession seven days prior to the due date (or renewal date).

Claims Returned

• If, after the first overdue notice is sent, the patron claims he/she has returned the item, then a complete investigation is carried out by an interlibrary loan staff member. The first step of the investigation is to check interlibrary loan’s system records (OCLC) and paper records to see if the item has been returned. The second step is to ask the lending library if the item has been returned to them. The last step is to check the stacks.
• If the item is not found by the time the second overdue notice is sent, then a second investigation is carried out, repeating the steps carried out during the first investigation.
• If the item is not found after the second investigation, then the patron is held accountable for the item. A bill is sent to the patron and holds are placed on the patron’s record, which means the patron’s library and registration privileges are suspended.

Violations

• If a patron has a pattern of returning interlibrary loan items late (3 or more within a semester), or a pattern of claiming they have returned interlibrary loan items that cannot be located (3 or more within a semester), then all interlibrary loan items requested will be for library use only.
• Should a patron repeatedly disregard the interlibrary loan guidelines, their interlibrary loan privileges will be temporarily or permanently suspended. Some actions which may result in suspension of privileges are: returning books late, not picking up requested material, and not paying fines and/or fees.
• If a patron disregards the interlibrary loan due date, does not respond to overdue notices by returning the overdue item, and is set delinquent two times, or, if the patron states to the interlibrary loan staff that they have no intention of observing the due date, their interlibrary loan privileges may be suspended indefinitely.

Copyright Restrictions

• Patrons requesting a photocopy must sign that they have read the copyright notice. This notice and a place for signature appear at the back of the interlibrary loan photocopy request form.
• Entire copyrighted works, including monographs and journal issues, may not be requested as a photocopy without the written permission of the copyright holder.
• Titles reaching copyright limitation are referred for a decision on subscription.

Usage Restrictions for Borrowed Materials

Lending libraries sometimes place restrictions on the use of materials they lend to Long Beach City College library patrons such as restricted usage inside the library or in Special Collections, no photocopies, or no renewals. LBCC will always follow the restrictions set by the lending library in cooperation for the loan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What materials are not available through (ILL)?

Required textbooks, recreational reading, recently published books, computer software, rare books, original manuscripts, special collections, entire volumes or issues of periodicals, and some dissertations and theses are not available for loan.

How long does it take to receive requested (ILL) material?

Most requested items arrive in 7-14 working days. Requests made during peak periods may take longer, up to six weeks, especially if the materials are only available from out-of-state libraries. The average loan period for a book borrowed from another library is 3 weeks (21 days). Photocopies of articles are yours to keep.

What do I need to do to place a request for (ILL) materials?

You must have a valid Long Beach City College ID card before you can request interlibrary loan materials, both in person and electronically.

If you need a book that is not in our Long Beach City College collection, we recommend that you next try searching the catalogs of California State University Long Beach and Long Beach Public Library to see if you can borrow the book directly from one of those libraries before initiating an interlibrary loan request. If the book you need is available through one of these libraries, we encourage you to visit the local library for the material instead of placing an interlibrary loan request.