What Is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a way of getting books, articles, and other materials that the Snowden Library does not own, free of charge to the borrower. This service is available for all Lycoming students, faculty, and staff. Alumni and community members should contact their public libraries for their ILL needs.

Document Delivery staff make every effort to get you the materials you need or similar resources. Certain materials, however, may be unobtainable, costly, or not in compliance with U.S. copyright law, and you will be notified of our inability to obtain these for you. Other special materials may also be difficult to obtain, such as recently published books, non-circulating materials, an entire issue or volume of a journal, rare or fragile materials, software, audiovisual materials, dissertations, and papers presented to societies/associations. Please see a reference librarian before requesting these items.

How Long Does It Take?

Materials usually arrive quickly, but can take up to two weeks to arrive. Please keep this in mind when placing requests. You will be notified via your Lycoming e-mail address when your materials arrive.

Help your requests arrive faster

How Can I Access PDFs of My Received Articles?

Emails inform you that your article has arrived and will have a link to a PDF of the article. You can also access the article at any time by logging in to your ILLiad account and clicking the "Electronically Received Articles" link in the View menu. PDFs of articles are retained for one month.

How Long Can I Keep Materials?

You can keep photocopies of articles or book chapters. The due date on the paperwork that arrives with your materials is set by the lending library.

How Do I Renew Materials?

Check the slip of paper that came with your book for any indication that the book cannot be renewed. If no indication is found, call (x4091) or email (ill@lycoming.edu) to request a renewal. You can also login to Illiad, click on "View/Renew Checked Out Items", click on the number next to the item you wish to renew, and you will see a Request Renewal button. Request to renew an item must be placed before the due date indicated on the slip of paper that came with the item.

Where Do I Return ILL Materials?

Return all EZBorrow and ILL materials to the Circulation Desk, or in the drop boxes outside the library entrance when the library is closed.

What Is the Difference Between EZBorrow and ILL?

The short answer to this question is that EZBorrow is just for books; ILL is for books and articles. Also, if a book is not available through EZBorrow, it still may be available through ILL. The advantage of EZBorrow is that the books tend to arrive faster and can be borrowed for a longer period. 

How Do I Access My Account?

On the Snowden Library homepage, on the right side, there are links to EZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan. You can place requests, check the status of your requests, and access requested articles through your ILL account. Snowden's online databases also have links to ILL by clicking "Check for Lycoming Access" to "Request this Item." These links will open the login page, Once you log in, a request form will open on which the information is automatically filled in. Fill out any additional information, double check for accuracy, and click "Submit."

Copyright

The Document Delivery/ILL Department adheres to generally accepted national copyright guidelines as they have been interpreted for libraries.

Lending policies

Affiliations

• ACLCP Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania
• LVIS Libraries Very Interested in Sharing
• PALCI Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc.

Delivery Methods

We ship via IDS through UPS/FedEx. Our IDS number is 147. Photocopies are sent via Odessey® and OCLC Article Exchange. In rare cases, USPS will be used to mail articles. 

Fees

There is no charge for using Interlibrary Loan services. Lost or damaged materials will incur a $75 fee and $10 processing fee per item.

Items Available for Loan

• Books from the general collection or any other collection not listed below
• Photocopies of journal articles
• Photocopies of book chapters
• VHS/DVDs from the video collection

Items Not Available for Loan

• Reference materials
• Reserve materials
• Historical Collection materials
• Archives Collection materials
• Entire issues/volumes of journals
• Board Games/Video Games
• Ebooks/electronic materials
• Microfilms/microfiche

Loan Period

Our loan period is 28 days, with an additional 28 days upon a successful renewal.

For Further Questions, Contact

Interlibrary Loan Department
John G. Snowden Library
One College Place
Williamsport, PA 17701-5192

Phone: (570) 321-4091
OCLC: LYC
Email: ill@lycoming.edu

Adam Clark
Library Technician,
Interlibrary Loan / Document Delivery and EZBorrow
Phone: (570) 321-4091
Email: clarka@lycoming.edu

Revised 2.27.2026