Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a system that allows Thorndike Library patrons to request books, documents and articles from over 50,000 participating libraries in the United States and beyond. This service greatly expands information available to patrons. However, it takes time to receive some items so please plan accordingly. If you use MaineCat for research it could take as little as 4 days to receive the materials through ILL. Out of state ILL items usually arrive in 7 to 10 days. Article requests can arrive as soon as one day later thanks to proprietary sending and receiving over the internet, although 4 days is more likely. It is at times possible to receive articles via ILL within hours depending on the item requested. If time is an issue, speak with ILL staff.

Thorndike Library generally borrows from libraries that loan for free. However, some libraries charge to borrow books and copy articles. If you are a COA community member, please let us know how much you are willing to pay in case there is an additional fee for copying or processing. Charges for non-COA members are $2.50 per request plus charges levied by supplying libraries, if any. ILL charges for COA alumni are $1.50 per request and any extra charges as mentioned above.

ILL request forms are available in paper and electronic form. Paper forms are located outside the Interlibrary Loan/Processing door. Please fill out as much of the form as possible. If you get the information from a computer database, attaching a printout is helpful. Alternately there are ILL request labels available to attach to printouts. Use the electronic forms here by selecting ILL Copy Request or ILL Book Request. Email is acceptable as well; please include your name, contact information, last useable date and how much you are willing to pay and send to ill@coa.edu. In all cases, please pay particular attention to the format/edition that you are requesting. See a staff member for more information.