Interlibrary Loan

There are times when a library customer will want an item that your library does not own. In that case, you have a few decisions to make. The first decision is if it is something that you want to buy. However, if the item is unavailable or too expensive to purchase, interlibrary loan, otherwise known as ILL, may be the best solution. ILL occurs when one library borrows from another library to fill a customer's request. There are several ways to request an interlibrary loan. In Iowa, the easiest and most cost effective form of ILL is to use the service provided by the SILO (State of Iowa Libraries Online) service. To use SILO go to http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/q-s/silo. Offering interlibrary loan to your customers is one way of providing your community with “equal access” to information regardless of the size or location of the community.