Interlibrary loan (ILL) service is a way to request items not owned by any library in the Upper Hudson Library System (UHLS).  Interlibrary loan requests will be honored if the patron’s home library is Guilderland, and their account is free from blocks. Most requests are filled within 2-3 weeks. The library does not charge for this service.

 

What We Can Request

Books/books on CD, magazine articles, and DVDs

What cannot be requested

    • Items owned by a UHLS library. Instead, request these through the UHLS catalog
    • Recent publications published within the last six months
    • Music CDs
    • Microfilm
    • E-books
    • Entire issues of journals, magazines, or newspapers
    • Copies of articles that are more than 30 pages 

Terms Of Use

To maintain our good relationship with other libraries, please pay attention to the following:

  • No more than five items at a time.
  • Interlibrary loan periods are determined by the lending library, and can be as short as three weeks.
  • Renewals are at the discretion of the lending library. Email or call us to request a renewal before the item’s due date.
  • Unreturned, damaged, or lost items will incur an initial $25 fee, which will be adjusted when the actual invoice is received from the lending library. This amount, which is determined by the lending library and not by the Guilderland Public Library, is nonrefundable, even if the ILL is returned.

Making A Request

  • ILL requests can be submitted in person; by email at ill@guilderlandlibrary.org; or by phone at 518-456-2400 x 3. Please provide complete information including your name, library card #, phone number and email address, and author/title information on the item you are requesting.
  • To submit an ILL request online, visit our contact page here, and choose “Interlibrary Loan” as your topic.

These sources may be useful in verifying the item being requested:

  • A professional citation from a book or journal
  • A copy of a magazine or newspaper article
  • A printout from an online source, such as Amazon.com, WorldCat or an online library catalog 

Note: Copyright laws and lending institution policies take precedence over GPL’s guidelines.

Lending to Other Libraries

  • Libraries outside of UHLS may request books (older than 6 months) and photocopies (30 pages or less)
  • The preferred means of requesting is via WorldShare ILL, or CDLC ILLeForm.