Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan is a service that provides access to materials needed for academic research that are not owned by the Seeley G. Mudd Library. This service is available to all current students, staff and faculty of the Lawrence University community at no charge.

• Give the source of your citation in case we need to verify any information.
• There is definitely a cost to borrow from other libraries, but the library doesn't pass that cost on to members of the Lawrence community. Please keep those costs in mind when submitting requests.
• If you need help determining a complete request, or finding resources, ask a reference librarian.

The following items can usually be obtained through interlibrary loan:

• Books, which are generally lent for 2 to 4 weeks
• Journal articles, which are electronically sent to your interlibrary loan account.
• While we can borrow theses, dissertations, government documents, and conference proceedings, keep in mind that these items can be very difficult to obtain. Make sure that you have other sources in case these can't be borrowed.
• Microfilm as well as old and rare books can be requested, but are difficult and sometimes not possible to obtain. If we are able to get these items, they will likely be in library use only.

When your requested item arrives, we will send a notification to your Lawrence email account. Books can be picked up at the circulation desk. Journal articles are sent electronically to your interlibrary loan account. 

Items that cannot be borrowed include audiovisual materials, such as CDs and DVDs.

Interlibrary Loan takes about 5 to 10 days, on average.  If you need your item in less time, contact the Interlibrary Loan department to discuss it personally. Articles may arrive within a few days, but we cannot guarantee a time, since we rely on the lending library to send the item to us.

There are a few different ways to submit an interlibrary loan request.

• Submit the request form available in your interlibrary loan account.
• By clicking the FindIt @ Lawrence link from within our databases.
• When searching OneSearch when full text of an item is not available or not owned by the library.

Make sure that you fill everything out correctly and thoroughly and include only one request per form.

Renewal requests can be submitted in your interlibrary loan account.

The lending library is contacted to grant the renewal, so please make sure you request a renewal at least 3 days BEFORE the item is due. If the renewal is denied, the book must be returned to the library by the original due date. 

Generally, second renewals are not granted by the lending library and it is usually not possible to keep items for an entire term. If you know you will need a book for an entire term, contact us, and we may be able to purchase a copy for our library's collection.

If interlibrary loan materials are not returned by the due date, you may lose your library privileges and be billed the lending library's fee to replace the book. In addition, you may be jeopardizing the library's ability to continue to borrow from the lending institution. Books that are recalled by the lending library must be returned immediately. Failure to return an interlibrary loan book may lead to disciplinary action, and may be considered an Honor Code violation.