Belk Library modifies interlibrary loan program
Textbooks no longer being sent through the InterLibrary Loan program might seem like a new policy for Belk Library, but it isn’t a change from what the library was already doing. As of January, Belk Library’s policy on ILL, a program that allows libraries to loan each other books internationally, now explicitly states Belk will not request textbooks from other libraries. This had already been the policy at Belk, but some books ended up slipping through. “In the past, if a textbook could be borrowed through interlibrary loans, it would be sometimes, but they’re rarely available, which is part of the motivation for changing it,” said Joan Ruelle, librarian at Elon University. Ruelle started in her current position last summer, so this clarification of library policy comes with Ruelle entering Belk as a newcomer. “It wasn’t clarified in the policy, so we wanted to make sure that we were consistent and that our message to students was consistent about what we can and can’t do and why that is,” Ruelle said. One of the main reasons that Belk does not request textbooks through ILL is students need textbooks for an entire semester and the loaning libraries, which set the loan periods, typically want the books back in a month. “So even if you could get it through interlibrary loans, you weren’t able to keep it for a semester,” Ruelle said. Ruelle also added it takes a very long time to get textbooks to students because so few libraries buy textbooks and even fewer loan them out.
