Interlibrary Loan Department
Phone: (559) 713-2707
Email: questions@tularecountylibrary.org

Place your request online: WorldCat (requires library card)

POLICY

The Tulare County Library System offers Interlibrary Loan as one of its standard services. These services are offered regardless of age. The borrower must have an active library card from the San Joaquin Valley System and no fines or fees greater than $10.00. The Tulare County Library System will borrow items from other libraries to meet customer needs. Interlibrary loan services are subject to the availability and regulations of the loaning libraries.

REQUEST LIMITATIONS

A Customer may have no more that six (6) interlibrary loan requests active at any one time
All requests must be picked up and returned to a Tulare County Branch Library (not including Tulare or Porterville).

WAITING PERIOD

The time required to fill and interlibrary loan can vary greatly; normally between two (2) and six (6) weeks. However, some requests may take longer.

MATERIAL ELIGIBLE FOR INTERLIBRARY LOAN REQUESTS

The library will request adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles, journal articles, microforms and audio/visual materials. The library will not request any materials that have been recently published.

LOAN PERIOD

The length of time an interlibrary loan item is loaned to the Tulare County Library System is determined by the lending institution and can vary greatly.

FEES

The Tulare County Library System will charge a fee of $2.50 per title to be paid at the time of checkout. If the loaning institution imposes a fee greater than $2.50 the requesting patron will be contacted and asked for a verbal promise to pay before the item is obtained. Patrons are also financially responsible for lost or damaged materials. Charges are set by the lending institution, and they indicate reimbursement procedures.

RENEWALS

Renewals of materials must be approved in advance by the lending institution, and this is done by contacting one of the Tulare County Library Branches. The renewal request process can take up to five (5) days. Patrons are warned that not all materials are renewable.

PICK-UP

Since interlibrary loan materials are loaned on a time-limited basis, the Tulare County Library System can only hold items for five (5) days before returning them to the owning institution. Therefore, it is important that requesting patrons pick up the material as soon as possible after being notified that their request has arrived.

RETURNS

Interlibrary loan materials must be returned to a Tulare County Branch Library. Materials “must not” be returned directly to the lending institution for record keeping purposes.

IMPORTANT POINTS

It is extremely important to keep your library card registration information up to date; especially your phone number. The Tulare County Library System will not be responsible for material not picked up by patrons, due to inability to contact them within the allotted five (5) day period, and the $2.50 fee per title will still be placed on the patron’s record.

LOANS TO OTHER LIBRARIES

The Tulare County Library System will function, whenever possible, as a provider of materials in the interlibrary loan system of which it is a participant. The Tulare County Library System will accept interlibrary loan requests submitted via paper, internet, telephone, fax, email or US Mail from other institutions.