​Definition provided by ALA (American Library Association)

​

Interlibrary loan is the process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library.  "material" includes books, audiovisual materials, and other returnable items as well as copies of journal articles, book chapters, excerpts, and other non-returnable items.

 

The purpose of interlibrary loan as defined by this code is to obtain, upon request of a library user, material not available in the user's local library.  Interlibrary loan is primarily intended to provide a requesting individual with a physical loan of a defined duration or a non-returnable copy or scan from another library.

​

The Palos Park Public Library is part of SWAN (System Wide Area Network), a group of  over 100 libraries. There will be occasions where none of these libraries own the requested item. Upon request the library can request your item from outside of SWAN. Delivery times are not guaranteed, as this solely depends on the loaning library. Please contact the Circulation and Access Services Manager at info@palosparklibrary.org or by phone at 708-448-1530 for further details. 

​

​