Students can access materials available at any library in the world with Interlibrary Loan or use it as a one-stop shop for any HBLL item that is needed.
“We have had students order all kinds of things including DVDs, popular novels, Harvard business school reviews, 19th century news reels, research articles and, of course, any kind of book,” said Shannon Sanders, the HBLL Interlibrary Loan supervisor in charge of borrowing. “The possibilities are really limitless. If you want it then we will try to get it.”
Interlibrary Loan is a service that any student or faculty can use for free. When the HBLL does not have something that students need or that is on a long holds list, Interlibrary Loan will borrow the materials from other libraries.
Justin Johnson, the Interlibrary Loan supervisor over lending, also suggested that students use Interlibrary Loan as a one-stop location for any materials they need, even if the HBLL already owns it.
Students can also use Interlibrary Loan to reserve a book that is available at the HBLL.
Once a request is placed through Interlibrary Loan it will be put on hold for the student and delivered to the circulation desk for pick up.
Students can access the service through the HBLL website online or visit the Interlibrary Loan station behind the HBLL circulation desk.
Natalie Williams, a junior studying public health at BYU and an interlibrary loan employee, said the service is great because it is “really fast at getting books.” Once a book request is placed it typically takes 5–7 days to arrive, and an article request takes about 2–3 days to arrive.
Johnson said not a lot of students are aware of the Document Delivery services they can also access for free.
If students need an article or chapter scanned from a book that the HBLL does have, students can order it through the Interlibrary Loan page and have it pulled, scanned and sent to them electronically.
The service is also offered to community members for genealogical purposes, said Sanders.
If a student is doing genealogy for a class or personal purposes, Interlibrary Loan is a resource they can use to speed the process along.
Instead of traveling across the country for genealogy research, patrons can request items such as old newspapers to search for obituaries of ancestors.
Overall, the mission statement of the department is to “provide possibilities,” said Sanders. The department wants to inform students of the services available to them at the HBLL and encourages them to use the services often.
