Interlibrary Loan

The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service locates and borrows materials not owned by the Library Learning Center for the educational, research, and general needs of the Texas Southern University community. This includes books, journal articles, documents, and audio-visual materials. ILL is also responsible for the lending of materials owned by the Library Learning Center to other institutions when the requests fall into the guidelines listed below.

Library Learning Center's ILL area complies with American Library Association Guidelines, the AMIGOS Resource Sharing Policy, the copyright law, Title 17, US Code,  and the TexShare Interlibrary Loan Policy. 

 Submit a Interlibrary Loan Request

Books – email Title, Author and Call Number. Items will be available for pick up by appointment on Fridays. Books can be shipped to non-local individuals. Addresses must be confirmed prior to shipping. Please use Library Mail rate when returning book(s) for less cost to you.

Journal articles – email the Name of the Journal, Article Title, Author(s), Date and Page Number(s). Journal articles will be delivered electronically.  

Interlibrary Loan Borrowing FAQs

Books and journal articles not owned by Library Learning Center are borrowed from other local, regional, national and international libraries for use by Texas Southern University's students, faculty and staff.

What may we borrow for you?

While the ILL staff will try to obtain almost any item that is requested, frequently there are problems borrowing the following types of materials from other libraries:

• Rare or fragile books
• Multi-volume sets (or any part of a set)
• Reference books
• Media
• Theses/dissertations
• Bound or single issue periodicals
• Unpublished papers and reports
• Computer software
• Course Textbooks

What should I do before making a request?

Please check the library catalog carefully to make sure that we do not already have the book. Books that are not on the shelf may have been checked out or they may be in a reshelving area. Check with the Circulation staff before requesting these items. 

Check for print journal titles in the library catalog. Journals that are not on the shelf may be in a reshelving area.  Check with the Serials staff at the second floor if you are having trouble locating a title.

Often it is hard to know what database contains a particular journal. Journal titles in electronic format can be located through the library's A-Z listing of journal titles.

Try to obtain complete and accurate information about the book or article you need to borrow. Pagination for articles and publication dates for books are usually necessary. Keep a record of the source of your information.

How do I make a request? 

Forms for requesting books and journals are available at the Circulation Desk. Current TSU identification cards must be presented when requesting materials.

The interlibrary loan request form is available online and may be submitted by email to charlean.sheard@tsu.edu; please submit one form for each item requested. 

Please try to provide us with basic bibliographic information about the book or journal article. For books, this means the author and title; it is often helpful for us to know the publisher's name, place of publication and the date of publication. To request a journal article you must know the journal title, volume number, page numbers and date, as well as the author and title of the article.

How long will it take?

The library can often borrow books and periodical articles from local libraries within five to ten working days. Items coming from out of state or those more difficult to verify or locate will take longer. You should anticipate a delay of a month or more and plan ahead for this when beginning your research.

When will the book be due?

Each lending library sets its own due dates. This will mean that even if you pick up several books on the same day each one may have a different due date. A band identifying the borrower's name and date the book is due is placed on the book.

Renewals are also controlled by the lending library. Request a renewal at least four days before the due date. Please do not request renewals by phone, bring book(s) to the ILL office to make the renewal request.

How will I be notified?

ILL staff will contact you when the requested materials are ready to be picked up. You must pick up the materials at the Circulation Desk on the first floor. Books which are borrowed must be returned by the due date.

Is there a charge?

Generally, there is no charge to our patrons for materials borrowed through interlibrary loan. However, when a cost is levied by the lending library it will be passed on to the borrower.

Interlibrary Lending Policies

Individuals from other libraries wishing to borrow materials held by the Library Learning Center must make all requests through their home library.

 Monographs Loan Period: 30 days; Renewals: 2 weeks

 The following types of materials are not available for loan:

• Media
• Heartman Collection (Special Collections)
• Reference/Government Documents
• Dissertations/Theses
• Journals