Interlibrary Loan, or ILL, is the borrowing and lending of materials between libraries. If the Library System does not not have the material you need, we can attempt to get it for you through the ILL system. We will try to find a library that has the material, and ask that library to loan it to us so we can loan it to you. We will have the best results in our search for the material if you can provide the author, title, publisher, and date of publication.
Who can use ILL?
Anyone who has a current Harrison County Library borrower’s card can use the service. You must be in good standing with no outstanding fines or overdues.
Where can I place a request, and what does it cost?
You can stop by any one of our libraries and make a request.
There is no cost.
When the material arrives, we will inform you by telephone. You will pick up the material at the circulation desk of the library, depending on which library you specified in your request.
We make every effort to fill your request. However, we may be unable to obtain your material because no library has purchased it, because the material is in heavy demand at all participating libraries, because the material is rare or is a limited edition, or because the material is reference work and cannot be loaned via ILL.
How long does it take to get material?
The speed of the service depends on the availability of your material at participating libraries as well as on the distance of, and speed of processing at those libraries. Requests typically take one week to one month to fill.
How long may I keep the material?
The library lending the material to us sets the due date. The period of the loan varies from library to library. Since a lending library occasionally sets a relatively short loan period, we recommend you pick up your material as soon as we notify you that it is available.
We can extend the due date on the material only if the library which loaned it to us allows such an extension. You should contact the ILL office to request an extension at least two working days before the material is due.
What about copies of articles?
You may obtain photocopies of magazine or journal articles through ILL. When you make your request, please supply us with the title of the article, the title, date, volume number and issue number (if available) of the magazine or journal in which it appears, and the numbers of the pages on which the article appears.
If you prefer, we can mail the photocopy to you. Remember to give us your mailing address when you make your request.
Your use of the photocopy must follow the provisions for fair use specified in the federal Copyright Act. Generally, this means you may use the photocopy for personal study; you may not reproduce it for any purpose without obtaining permission from the holder of the copyright. Under Copyright Law, you cannot request more than five articles from a single magazine in a year.
What about genealogical material?
Genealogical materials such as family histories and documents in archives are sometimes difficult to obtain. Occasionally a library will photocopy such materials in response to a request. For any genealogical request, you should be sure to provide us with the family names you are researching.
Some libraries are able to provide old newspapers on microfilm. When we determine the charge, we will ask you to make your check out to the library that will be lending you the film. This speeds the process of obtaining your material.
What cannot be ordered through ILL?
Libraries generally will not loan the following via ILL: phonodiscs, cds, video and audio cassettes, DVDs, new bestsellers, and reference works such as directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, and bibliographies.
Questions?
Please contact the Administrative Headquarters, 12135 Old Hwy 49, Gulfport, MS 39503; 228-539-0110 x 103. The ILL Office hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.
If the ILL librarian is out of the office, please leave a voice message including your name and phone number.
Please contact the library nearest you for more information.