Interlibrary Loan Changes

Submitted by Jeff Fisher

Important changes are coming to Interlibrary Loan (ILL) on September 2, 2025. Please read below for a summary of these changes, the most important of which is a limit of three ILL requests and three ILL items out at a time. 

Changes to Interlibrary Loan - The Brief Details - Three is a Magic Number

• Postage costs to mail Interlibrary Loan items have increased and will increase again in the future. The cost to mail each ILL item is more expensive than in past years.
• Beginning September 2, 2025, patrons will be limited to three ILL requests and three ILL items out at a time (3/3). This reduction from the current five ILL requests and five ILL items out is due to increasing postage costs.
• Patrons who fail to pick up three ILL items over a three-month period will have their ability to borrow or request ILL items suspended for three months (3-3-3).

Changes to Interlibrary Loan - The Longer Details

What are the next steps regarding the implementation of this change? 

• Patrons will be notified with bookmarks detailing the changes. These bookmarks will be placed in ILL items picked up by patrons during August. 
• Patrons who have made an ILL request in the last twelve months will receive an email outlining the ILL changes. 
• Materials staff will be responsible for keeping track of patrons whose ILL abilities have been suspended for three months due to having three unclaimed items in a three-month period (3-3-3). 
• Information regarding unclaimed items and suspensions will be kept on a spreadsheet on Drive. 
• Information on the spreadsheet related to a specific patron may be discussed with said patron, but please do not show the information on the spreadsheet to the patron, as they would see information related to other patrons. 
• The tracking of unclaimed ILLs will begin on September 2, 2025.
• An unclaimed ILL item is one that is not picked up by the patron and is sent back to the lending library. 
• Should a patron contact the Library and explain why they are unable to pick up the hold or that they no longer want the hold, this would not count as an unclaimed item. Please refer to the Interlibrary Loan Unclaimed Procedures document on Drive for the specifics of how to return unclaimed ILL materials.  
• A patron who has concerns about unclaimed ILLs or an ILL suspension can be referred to Materials at ILLMail@forsythpl.org. Patrons can ask ILL staff to confirm information and dates related to unclaimed ILLs or a suspension. 
• Patrons wishing to appeal unclaimed items or a suspension further would then be referred to Library administration.