Interlibrary Loan Policy


Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a special service the Carroll and Madison County Library System provides to its patrons.  ILL service allows patrons to obtain materials from participating libraries throughout the United States. Because these materials belong to another library, we have special restrictions and deadlines that must be adhered to by CAMALS patrons.

  • Interlibrary Loan service is a privilege, not a right.   
  • This service is free to the patrons of CAMALS, but it is not a free service to CAMALS.  The average cost to CAMALS to obtain an ILL is $25 per item.
  • Patrons must be in good standing to request an ILL.
  • Patrons wishing to request interlibrary loan materials must be 12 years of age or older.  
  • CAMALS reserves the right to refuse to borrow items.
  • In order to provide the best level of service to all, CAMALS patrons may have no more than five interlibrary loan requests in process at any time. 
  • CAMALS will not borrow a book that is either owned by or on order for any CAMALS library. This includes Reference and Special Collection Materials. Items that have been marked “Lost” or “Missing” in our catalog system should be asked to be considered for re-purchasing before requesting on ILL.  If the director does not wish to re-purchase, then the item may be requested.
  • CAMALS will not request any item published within the previous six months.
  • “In Library Use Only” materials, such as microfilm or anything declared to be reference or special collection by the lending library, must be used at the Library.  
  • Patrons are allowed at least 1 week use for any ILL item. The item due date is determined by the lending library, not by CAMALS. One renewal may be possible, depending on the lending library’s policy.  To renew an ILL, patrons should contact the library at least 2 business days before the due date.
  • Patrons who abuse the ILL system twice will have their ILL privileges permanently suspended at all CAMALS libraries for one year.  Examples of abuse: continual late returns of items, continual damage of items, failure to return items.
  • A patron may not request an item on ILL he or she has previously received on ILL.  In lieu of a second ILL request, the item may be submitted to the director as a purchase request.
  • If an ILL item is lost or needs to be replaced, the lending library will determine the replacement cost for the lost material. The borrowing library will pay for the item and pass the cost onto the patron.