Books can travel great distances to reach you

Ever wonder what happens when you request an item and the library doesn’t buy it?

There could be many reasons why we don’t purchase an item, but we’ll always try to get it for you. We call this interlibrary loan — also known as ILL — that’s where we request items from other libraries across the country.

If we don’t purchase the item, it is sent to our Interlibrary Loan department where our Interlibrary Loan specialist will search for the item in a huge database of libraries that are willing to share their collections.

Some libraries respond quickly and we can see the requested item within a week. Sometimes it can take up to a month or more for new and popular items. It all depends on who shares and where it’s coming from. When it arrives, we put a barcode on it and notify you that it’s ready to pick up.

It’s a relatively simple process, but the fun and challenging part is when we try to find odd, out-of-print items, very specific and obscure texts, and some scholarly articles. ILL staff enjoys searching for these things, even when the search may take months. If we can’t get it in print, we’ll try our hardest to get something else for you.

We also lend some of our items to other libraries that don’t have as expansive a collection as we do.

Here are a few other ILL tidbits that you may or may not know:

• You can renew an ILL for 1 week. If you need it longer, please let us know, because we have to ask the lending library for a renewal.

• You can have up to 24 ILLs per year.

• We have gotten books from all kinds of places in the country, even Hawaii.

• We also send out lots of books and movies to other libraries, including military bases, correctional facilities, and museums.

The next time you request an item and it has a pink slip in it, take a look at the markings on the book. We always try to leave the lending library visible so you can see where it came from.

Vanessa Thiele can be reached at the East Bonner County Library, 1407 Cedar Street, Sandpoint, by phone at 208-263-6930, or email at infodesk@ebonnerlibrary.org.