Interlibrary Loans (ILL) are transactions in which materials are made available by one library to another for the use of individuals.
Services
Borrowing Services
Interlibrary Loan borrowing provides Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) students, faculty and staff with access to materials needed for research but unavailable in BHCC library. BHCC's current students, faculty and staff are eligible for this service. There is no charge for ILL, but it does require a valid BHCC ID.
Interlibrary Loans can request loans or photocopies from books, journal articles, and other materials, although the lending library will decide in each case whether or not a particular item is provided. To submit a request, you can use your library account.
Turnaround time for a request varies from five days to several weeks. Patrons will be notified by phone or by email (if the patron's email address was given) when the items have arrived in BHCC library. Since requests are handled through an electronic system, BHCC library staff do not keep track of what happens to requests after they are placed. Patrons should therefore contact library staff if they have not received a response in two weeks.
Lending Services
Interlibrary Loan supplies other libraries with materials needed by their users. The BHCC library has an obligation to supply materials to other libraries as part of the reciprocal nature of interlibrary loaning.
Individual patrons from other libraries are not served directly. They are advised to go to their local public or academic libraries for ILL services.
Policies
Borrowing Policies
Loan periods are determined by the lending library – usually it will be two weeks. An ILL book will be held at the circulation desk seven days before being sent back to lending library if patrons do not come to pick it up. All interlibrary loans are subject to recall at any time by the lending library. To request a renewal, please contact BHCC library. Renewals are granted at the discretion of the lending library, and are not granted through the circulation desk at BHCC library.
Patrons are responsible for all costs associated with lost or damaged materials. The lending library assesses the charges for items and the charges will vary. You are responsible for payment of the charges levied by the lending library. If the materials are lost in transit or after they have been returned to BHCC library, the library will reimburse the lending library.
Lending Policies
The BHCC library reserves the right to restrict the loan period and the eligible materials lending to other libraries. Regularly, the loan period will be four weeks for general collection. The requesting library can contact our library by phone or by e-mail to ask the extension. The BHCC library does not loan current periodicals nor most non-book formats (including audiocassettes, videos, CDs, DVDs, microforms, or videodiscs.)
Please note that while most interlibrary loan materials can be found within Massachusetts, requests for materials from OCLC are available for faculty and considered on a case-by-case basis. Please check with a librarian.
All materials loaned are eligible for recall by BHCC's primary borrowers.
The requesting library is responsible for borrowed materials from the time they leave the BHCC library until they have been returned and received by the BHCC library. If damage or loss occurs, the requesting library is responsible for compensation or replacement.
Copyright Notice
The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyright material.
The BHCC library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying orders if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.
Please contact the library at BHCCLibrary@bhcc.edu if you have any questions.