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Interlibrary Loan

Looking for a book, article or other materials that we don't have? Place a request through interlibrary loan and we can find it for you!

Often abbreviated ILL, Interlibrary Loan is an international resource sharing service that allows Colby patrons to access physical and digital materials from other participating institutions all over the world.

In order to use out ILL service, called ILLiad, you must first create an ILLiad account. To create an account,  go to the Colby Libraries homepage and click on ‘My ILLiad account‘ in the top menu bar.

To place a request through ILL, log in to your My ILLiad account and fill out the form that matches the type of material you’d like to borrow. Requests for digital materials are often ready within 2 business days and, depending on the rarity of the item you’re requesting, physical items can take between a week and a month to arrive.

What cannot be borrowed through interlibrary loan?

Materials that cannot be borrowed through ILL include:

  • PDFs of entire books
  • Certain rare or fragile items, items that are housed in “Special Collections” departments – although we can always ask and can obtain scans of specific pages
  • Items that are too new, as they are often not available in libraries for some time after they are published

How will I know when my items are available?

When your items are ready to be picked up at the Miller Library Service Desk you will receive an email notifying you. You can also look at the status of your requested items in your My ILLiad account.

Can ILL materials be renewed?

If you need an item for longer than the provided loan period you can request a renewal from you My ILLiad Account. Click on the “Checked Out / Renew Items” button on the left hand side of your account page, and select the item you’d like to renew. If your item does not appear in that menu it may not be eligible for a renewal.

Renewals are up to the lending library that owns the material, but Colby library staff will act as the go between to make sure you are able to use the items for as long as possible.

For questions regarding interlibrary loan, please contact us at [email protected].