Inter-Library Loan - Access to the Global Library

As a small, rural library we cannot possibly maintain in our collection every item our patrons could desire. The solution is to borrow items from other libraries via the interlibrary loan system.

The Lassen Library District is the only public library in Lassen County that is member of the California State Library system and a member of the North State Cooperative Library System. (The Lassen College library is also a member of these systems). Membership in these systems affords our patrons the ability to request materials from member libraries in these systems.

Most materials in the collections of these libraries can be borrowed, but the loan periods and any late fees vary depending on the policies of the lending library.

ILL Request Procedures

Patrons must have a Lassen Library District library card and be patrons in good standing. Patrons with long-outstanding late fees or overdue iyems will not be allowed to make ILL requests.

ILL requests can be made in person, via facsimilie or e-mail, but all patrons will be required to indicate their acceptance of the terms of the loan, including the requirement to pay associated costs, by signing the request application prior to picking up the borrowed items. 

There is a four-item limit on the number of ILL items a patron can have at any time.

Library staff members will search the holdings of other libraries using on-line database search and reservation tools available to them to find the requested materials and place a loan order for them. Patrons are called when the items have arrived at the library.

Patrons can search the California Library Catalog - CalCat - or the worldwide OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. online library catalog - WorldCat - to find materials themselves, but they will not be able to make a reservation request as this capability requires a subscription-based account.

ILL Fees

Materials borrowed from NSCLS libraries are transported free of charge via courier between the libraries. There are, therefore, no charges to the borrowing patron for these materials.

Materials borrowed from non-NSCLS libraries are usually transported by mail and, therefore incur a postage charge. The Lassen Library Disitrict collects a $2 return postage fee for these materials at the time the patron picks them up.

The library staff makes every effort to find requested materials in an NSCLS library first, so as to avoid the patron having to pay postage charges.