About Interlibrary Loans
An interlibrary Loan (ILL) transaction is a request to borrow material not owned by the West Hartford Public Library system or held by any member library in the consortium to which the library belongs. This service is available to individuals with valid Connecticut public library cards. The West Hartford Public Library is a member of OCLC and provides materials not found in local libraries using this service.
A library cardholder may submit up to three interlibrary loan requests per week. There is no fee for an interlibrary loan transaction.
The average time to receive an item through interlibrary loan is 2-3 weeks. Customers will be notified when an item is available for pick-up.
Types of Materials
Some items may not be requested through interlibrary loan. These include entertainment DVDs and videos, magazine or journal articles, and reference or non-circulating materials.
Audiovisual items, such as audiobooks, music CDs and cassettes, and nonfiction videos, may be requested only from local libraries who belong to our consortium or who participate in statewide ILL service.
For items published within the last six months, submit a purchase suggestion form, not an ILL.
Loan Periods and Renewals
Loan periods for materials received on interlibrary loan are determined by the lending library. If more time is needed, a renewal request should be initiated as soon as possible by resubmitting the original request through the staff at the Information Desk.
Procedure for Submitting Requests
To submit a request for an item through interlibrary loan, please call or visit the Information Desk at the Main Library or either of the branch libraries during regular library hours.