Nashua School District

School Interlibrary Loan Policy

Introduction

The Nashua School District Library Media Specialists recognize that the sharing of materials between libraries is necessary to provide patrons access to the widest range of information. Each library should provide the resources needed by its clientele on a regular basis and the home library should be the first source searched for needed information. When needs cannot be met there, interlibrary loan is an option. Librarians should strongly consider adding items to their collection if interlibrary loan requests illustrate a need for them.

Definition of Terms

For the purposes of this document, the following terms will be used:
Patron refers to the teacher or student requesting an item

            Lender is used for the school lending the item

            Borrowing school is originating the request

Interlibrary Loan Among Nashua Schools

1. School library materials may be borrowed through interlibrary loan (ILL) by any teacher or staff member. Loans to students may be made at the discretion of the Library Media Specialist at the student’s school. Factors such as the patron’s demonstrated responsibility with library materials and locally available materials will be considered.

2. Materials requests should be done between library personnel; i.e. patron speaks to personnel at the borrowing school who will request it from the lending school.

3. If an item is available at more than one school, the requestor should generally use the following preferences for selecting the lending school:
   1. Schools with more than one copy of the item
   2. Schools at the same level (i.e. elementary to elementary)

4. Requests for items should be sent over e-mail to circulation desks. The request should include the title of the item, call number, name of patron requesting, patron’s barcode, and name of borrowing school. If an extended loan period is desired, make such a request at this time.

5. The lending library should respond in a timely manner to any requests. If for any reason the request cannot be fulfilled, the borrowing library should be notified as soon as possible with the reason that the loan will not take place.

6. The item requested will be checked out to the individual requesting the loan.

7. Materials sent through interoffice mail should be packaged to prevent damage in transit as much as possible.

8. The item will be sent to the borrowing library through interoffice mail. It is the responsibility of the borrowing library to notify the patron to pick up the item.

9. Loan periods will be consistent with the lending school’s policies, unless an alternate date has been provided. In the case of overnight loan periods, transit time must be allowed.

10. The patron should return the ILL item to the requesting library, which will then send it back to the lending library. Each library will check it in.

11. The borrowing library is responsible for collecting materials when due and returning them promptly to the lending library. Should an item become overdue, the borrowing library should make every endeavor to retrieve late material.

12. Patrons who return items extremely late may be denied future interlibrary loans. Such refusals will apply to specific individuals, not libraries, and will be determined by the lending library. Refusal to loan to individuals must be for adequate reasons and should be articulated by the lending library to the borrowing library.

13. An item may be renewed with the permission of the lending library. Renewals may be denied if the item in question is needed at the home library.

14. The patron is responsible for any damages or loss of the borrowed item. If loss or damage occurs, the borrowing library is responsible for collecting compensation.

15. If any exceptions to this document should arise, the Library Media Specialists will address these issues with the assistance of administrators.