Inter-library loan
Interloan services are available to help people borrow books and other material from libraries around New Zealand. You can collect interloan material from any library that is currently open.
Inter-library loan FAQ
General
- What is inter-library loan?
- Who can request an interloan?
- How do I make a request?
- How much does it cost?
- How long will my interloan take to arrive?
- How do I know my interloan has arrived?
- How do I collect my interloan?
- How long can I keep my interloan?
- How do I renew my interloan?
- Do interloans incur overdue charges?
- What happens if I can’t pick up my interloan?
- How many interloans can I request?
- What if I need an item urgently?
- What if an item isn’t available within NZ?
Can I interloan…
- Items that are in earthquake-closed libraries?
- Items that are out on loan or “reference only” at Christchurch City Libraries?
- Items that are “withdrawn” or “lost” at Christchurch City Libraries?
- Things that are newly published?
- Standards?
- Audiovisual items (CDs, DVDs, videos etc.)?
- Rare, expensive or “reference only” items?
- Theses?
- Microfilmed copies of newspapers etc.?
- E-books?
Extra
- If I request an article can it be emailed or posted to me?
- I’m having trouble opening the article you emailed me, what should I do?
- I want to request multiple copies of a music score, can you help?
Can’t find the answer to your question? Contact Christchurch City Libraries and let us know!
General
- What is interlibrary loan?
- Interlibrary loan (often referred to as interloan) is a co-operative scheme whereby libraries throughout New Zealand lend items to each other.
Read the full Interlibrary Loan Policy. - Who can request an interloan?
- Anyone who is a member of Christchurch City Libraries may place an interloan request.
- How do I make a request?
- First check to see whether we hold the item: check our catalogue.
If we do not have the item you can request an interloan by filling in our request form or phoning the Library on (03) 941 7923. - How much does it cost?
- Interloans cost $7.20 per request within New Zealand. This charge works the same way as a hold charge and is payable on collection. The interloan charge applies even if you choose to not collect your interloan. (See our charges page for more details of interlibrary loan charges.)
- How long will my interloan take to arrive?
- Interloan requests are usually actioned within 3 week days. How soon the request is supplied depends on whether the item is available in another library in New Zealand. Most requests are filled within 2 weeks. Please contact the library if you haven't received any information after 2 weeks.
(Christchurch City Libraries will make every reasonable effort to promptly supply interloan requests to clients. Due to outside factors, such as availability and delivery methods, we cannot guarantee the success or speed of delivery.) - How do I know my interloan has arrived?
- You will be notified that your interloan can be collected in the same way as for a hold item. Please ensure your contact details (email/address) are up to date to ensure we are able to contact you.
- How do I collect my interloan?
- Interloan items will be on the holds shelf at the library you selected. If the library has self-issue then you will need to collect your interloan from the hold shelf and issue it yourself. If the library does not have accessible holds and self-issue, then library staff will find your interloan and issue it to you. Payment is required when your interloan is issued. Please note that the Christchurch City Libraries bookstrap around the item must be returned with the interloan.
- How long can I keep my interloan?
- Interloans are issued for 21 days. It is possible to renew an interloan (see How do I renew my interloan?).
- How do I renew my interloan?
- Simply ask at your local library or contact the library.
Occasionally other NZ libraries do not allow renewals - interloans staff will contact you if this is the case.
If the interloaned item is overdue at the time you request a renewal, a renewal may still be possible, but there will still be the standard overdue charge per item per day for the days overdue.
Interloan items can only be renewed once (for an additional 3 weeks from the original due date). - Do interloans incur overdue charges?
- Yes. If an interloaned item is returned past its due date, a charge of 50 cents per item per day will accrue.
- What happens if I can’t pick up my interloan?
- The interloan charge of $7.20 is non-refundable. If an interloan has not been collected within 9 days of being available for pick-up it will be returned to the lending library. If you think you will be unable to collect your interloan for any reason, please contact the library.
- How many interloans can I request?
- There is no limit to the number of interloan requests you can place, but once you have reached 25 filled requests within a calendar year, the charge increases to $27.20 per request.
- What if I need an item urgently?
- An urgent interloan service is available within business hours Monday to Thursday. This means that Christchurch City Libraries will make every reasonable effort to supply your request within 2 working days. The cost for an urgent interloan request is an initial $20.40 plus the standard charge of $7.20 when the item arrives.
Due to outside factors, such as availability and delivery methods, Christchurch City Libraries cannot guarantee the success or speed of delivery.
Please note: The urgent charge for this service is not refundable even if the item cannot be supplied or if delivery is later than required. - What if an item isn’t available in New Zealand?
- It may be possible to borrow the item from overseas or purchase the article from a commercial document supply service.
The charges for requests to Australia are NZD$7.20 per article and NZD$30.00 per book. Items requested from any other countries are charged on a cost recovery basis. Delays in supply may occur. See our charges page for details of international interloan charges.
Can I interloan…
- Items that are in earthquake-closed libraries?
- Yes, you can request an interloan when the only copy held by Christchurch City Libraries is in a library that’s closed because of the earthquake. The standard charge of $7.20 will apply.
- Items that are out on loan or “reference only” in Christchurch City Libraries?
- No, we cannot interloan anything we currently hold, whether it is on loan or has to be used in the library (other than items in earthquake-closed libraries).
- Items that say “withdrawn” or “lost” on Christchurch City Libraries catalogue be interloaned?
- Yes, but at the usual interloan charge.
- Audiovisual items (CDs, DVDs, videos etc.)?
- Yes, but some NZ libraries do not lend their audiovisual material via interloan. The interloans team will do their best to supply what you request and contact you if they are unable to do so.
- Things that are newly published?
- Yes, but often other NZ libraries will not lend newly published books if they are very recent, or if there are lots of people on the waitlist. You may prefer to suggest we buy a copy.
- Standards?
- Yes – we can generally obtain New Zealand or Australian standards by interloan. A charge of $35.80 per standard applies. We recommend checking our catalogue first in case the library already has the standard you are looking for.
Please note: We have 6 months free read-only access to New Zealand and joint Australia/NZ Standards – you can only get to this from your local library. - Rare, expensive or “reference only” items?
- Occasionally these items may be made available on the condition that they are only used within one of our libraries. Fill-in the request form as normal and we will contact the owning library for you.
- Theses?
- Yes – we can generally obtain New Zealand theses by interloan, but normally on the condition that they are only used within a Christchurch City Library.
- Microfilmed copies of newspapers etc.?
- Yes. The Alexander Turnbull section of the National Library holds many NZ newspapers, magazines and journals on microfilm. You may request more than one microfilm roll at a time, so long as it is no more than 1 year’s worth of the publication (e.g. NZ Truth 1974). Each subsequent year will need to be put through as a separate request.
Please note: Microfilm readers are now available at Central Library Peterborough. - E-books?
- No. We are unable to interloan e-books due to membership access restrictions.
Extra
- If I request an article can it be emailed or posted to me?
- In general, yes, but we cannot guarantee this service for all articles. It is up to the library we request from whether the article is delivered to us electronically or in print. Either way we can post it to you, but we have to receive an electronic copy of the article in order to email it. If you would like the article posted (or if possible emailed) to you, simply indicate this on the request form.
- I’m having trouble opening the article you emailed to me, what can I do?
- Let us know as soon as you can! We may be able to sort out the problem or resend the article.
- I want to request multiple copies of a music score, can you help?
- You can request choral and orchestral sets of scores directly from the National Library. There is a Choral and orchestral music hire service on the National Library website where you can search for music, or phone 04 474 3025.
Can’t find the answer to your question? Contact Christchurch City Libraries and let us know!
