Interlibrary Loans
If a patron wants an item not owned by your library or any library in the district, Collection Management staff work to fulfill it elsewhere. They may also request materials from your library to fulfill another system's request.
LENDING ITEMS
Dauphin County Library System Staff
All DCLS lending is handled by the ILL Technician in Collection Management. You will be contacted if an item from your branch is needed. They will be returned to your location when received again by ILL.
District Libraries Beyond DCLS
You are responsible for responding to requests for your library to lend or renew items. It is important to check for requests and renewals frequently so that requests you cannot fill are quickly forwarded to the next lending library for efficient service to patrons.
BORROWING ITEMS
When a patron asks to borrow an item that is not owned by your library, the patron or staff fills out an ILL request form.
Step 1: Library staff verifies information about the requested item and then checks in their own catalog to make sure it is not locally owned. If it is locally owned, direct the patron to place a hold on that copy.
Step 2: Library staff should also look in the catalogs of the other systems in the district. See more about district loans here.
Step 3: If the item is not available in the district, send the request to DCLS ILL by logging in here. DCLS will confirm that it is not available locally and then will attempt to obtain the item more widely.