Interlibrary Loan

POLICY:

The Council Bluffs Public Library strives to enrich, inform and empower our patrons through the acquisition of materials of great interest to them. As not all materials can be purchased by the Council Bluffs Public Library, Interlibrary Loan is utilized as an alternative way to attempt to fulfill patron requests.

PROCEDURE:

• Interlibrary Loan is available to library card holders in good standing who are:
  • Permanent residents of the city of Council Bluffs
  • Permanent residents of unincorporated and rural areas of Pottawattamie County
  • Permanent residents of cities with a library service contract
  • Owners of property in the city of Council Bluffs
  • Owners of property in unincorporated and rural areas of Pottawattamie County
  • Fee-based card holders
• Interlibrary Loan is not available to library card holders who are:
  • Iowa Open Access program participants
  • Temporary Housing cardholders in transitional, emergency, correctional, temporary or half-way housing 
  • Unverified Juvenile cardholders
  • Accessing services through LIT Accounts
• The Council Bluffs Public Library will attempt to obtain materials submitted as an Interlibrary Loan request from libraries both inside and outside the state of Iowa, throughout the continental United States.
• The Council Bluffs Public Library will attempt to obtain the following types of materials through Interlibrary Loan:
  • Printed Books o Audiobooks on CD
  • DVDs
  • Music CDs
  • Video Games that have physical discs or cards.
  • Magazines
  • Articles
• Not all collections owned by the Council Bluffs Public Library will be made available to other libraries participating in Interlibrary Loan.
• On occasion, a fee may be required to borrow a certain item. The patron will be notified before the item is borrowed to verify it is an acceptable charge the patron is willing to pay.
• Loan periods are set by the lending library. Interlibrary Loan items are subject to recall from the lending library at any time.
• Patrons must return any Interlibrary Loan item obtained by the Council Bluffs Public Library to the Council Bluffs Public Library.
• There is a nominal charge for excessive unclaimed Interlibrary Loans. There is no charge if the Council Bluffs Public Library is notified by the patron that the item is no longer needed or wanted prior to the item’s due date. Cancelation requests can be submitted to ill@councilbluffslibrary.org.
• There is a nominal charge if an Interlibrary Loan item is returned without the corresponding item paperwork.
• Continual abuse of the Interlibrary Loan service may result in a loss of Interlibrary Loan privileges.
• The Council Bluffs Public Library may limit the number of active Interlibrary Loan requests patrons can have at one time.

Adopted: July 21, 2021

Approved: July 21, 2021; June 26, 2024