Overview and Types of Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary loan rules and policies

All SWAN libraries are required to follow the ILLINET ILL Code and RAILS Resource Sharing Policy.

• ILLINET ILL Code is available from the Illinois State Library website. It was last revised and updated in 2015.
• RAILS Resource Sharing Plan outlines the responsibilities of all RAILS Member Libraries, including policy maintenance
  • (II.A.3) "To facilitate resource sharing among RAILS libraries, all RAILS member libraries shall include their resource sharing policies as a part of their library's record on the Library Learning (L2) website and other applicable electronic platforms such as OCLC and shall keep those policies up-to-date."
• SWAN Circulation Policy
  • (4d) Library staff can no longer pursue reimbursement for materials with a current location of INTRANSIT or those items "Damaged in Delivery" from SWAN or other SWAN libraries.
  • (4e) Packing materials for ILL are not billable.
  • (7) Responsibility for Lost Interlibrary Loan and Reciprocal Borrowing Materials
    • (a) When all libraries involved in an ILL or RB transaction are SWAN libraries, the user's home library is responsible for all costs.
    • (b) When a Non-SWAN library is involved in the transaction, the ILLINET ILL Code requires that the borrowing library must reimburse the owning library for any losses.

Terminology and definitions

1. Intra-Library Loan (between branches of a library)
   • Borrowing and lending of materials between branch locations, such as Oak Park and their two branch libraries.
2. Interlibrary Loan
   • Borrowing and lending of materials between libraries. The majority of interlibrary loan activity conducted by SWAN libraries is between other SWAN libraries. Since SWAN libraries share the bibliographic and patron database, processes for handling Interlibrary Loan within and outside of SWAN will be different. As such, this distinction is important as we clarify procedures.
     • Within-SWAN Interlibrary Loan =  both libraries are within the SWAN consortium
       • Borrowing and lending materials between libraries in SWAN is considered Within-SWAN Interlibrary Loan. 
     • Outside-SWAN Interlibrary Loan =  one library is outside of the SWAN consortium
       • Borrowing and lending materials between a SWAN library and a library outside of the SWAN consortium
3. Reciprocal Borrowers (RBPs)
   • Patrons registered at a home public library who visit another public library for library services or materials. Reciprocal borrowing is between public libraries. Academic, School, and Special library cards are not honored for reciprocal borrowing privileges. Those patrons also need to obtain a library card from their public library if they wish to use public libraries. 
     
     Statewide Reciprocal Borrowing: The right of a person who holds a valid, in-good-standing library registration card from a full member public library to borrow materials on site from other library system full member public libraries under the same conditions that the library provides those materials to its patrons, subject to reasonable restrictions approved by the library’s governing board in accordance with requirements of the library system’s resource sharing plan and this Part.  [from the RAILS Resource Sharing Plan]
     • Internal (Within-SWAN) Reciprocal Borrowers 
       • Patrons of any library within SWAN who visit another SWAN library to borrow materials.
     • External Reciprocal Borrowers
       • Patrons who visit a SWAN library to borrow materials who are registered at a library outside of SWAN.

Overview of ILL and RBP processing (within SWAN)

Within-SWAN Interlibrary Loan is an interlibrary loan (ILL) between SWAN libraries where items are requested from and provided to libraries within the SWAN consortium.

In an Interlibrary Loan transaction, material moves between libraries.

Internal (Within SWAN) Reciprocal Borrowers are public library patrons of any library within SWAN who visit another SWAN public library, besides their home library, to borrow materials on site. RBPs within the service area of a sister library must first register with their home library to obtain a library card. Once registered, they can borrow material on-site at any public library in the consortium. 

In RBP, patrons move between libraries to check out material at a library other than their home library.

In Transit (Multiple Libraries) within SWAN -- Transactions between SWAN libraries may involve a combination of Interlibrary Loan and Reciprocal Borrowing. Within SWAN, the responsible libraries in terms of billing/item replacement are between the patron's Home Library and the Item Library. This distinction is critical in the quarterly reconciliation between libraries for lost materials.

• Home Library = Patron's Home Library
• Item Library = Library that owns the item
• Transit Library = Library that facilitates the movement of material between library and patron