Interlibrary Loan

No library can afford to purchase every book published and give it shelf space. Interlibrary Loan allows libraries across the nation to share their circulating collections with one another. The Hardin County Public Library has direct electronic access to the library collections of participating member libraries in the South. We can obtain materials from any library in the South willing to lend them.

We can borrow any book or magazine article not already owned by the Hardin County Public Library. Our Library Catalog should be checked to ascertain whether we own the item. When requests are placed, the more correct information we are given, the quicker we will be able to obtain the item. At a minimum, we need the correct title and author of the book being requested.

We cannot borrow books published in the past six months, bestsellers, textbooks, entire issues of periodicals, videos (see exception), computer software, or audiobooks, or other types of audiovisual material. The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives maintains a film library with a large collection of videos. Should KDLA own the video, we can borrow it, as long as it will not be shown in a public school setting. The KDLA film catalog is available at the Main Library, North Branch, and Bookmobile.

While we may request items of an historical or genealogical nature, most libraries are unwilling to lend them. For example, we will not lend our reference books nor will we lend any genealogical materials owned by the library. We may be able to obtain photocopies of specified pages.

The Hardin County Public Library does not charge for this service. However, lending libraries sometimes charge fees. If you are willing to pay such fees, you must fill in the appropriate blank. This authorizes us to act as your agent in borrowing what has been asked for. We will make every effort to obtain a free copy before incurring fees on your behalf. Any fees due must be paid at the time the item is picked up.

The time varies for the receipt of interlibrary loan. If the book is available in state, it could arrive in a week depending upon which library has agreed to lend it to us. If it is necessary to go out of state to obtain requested material, it could take six to eight weeks. If you have a deadline, please be sure to state it on the interlibrary loan form. You will be notified by telephone when the request arrives. If you don’t pick up the item, you are still financially responsible for any charges we have been authorized to make on your behalf. If an item is not available, notification will be given.

Any resident of Hardin County with a current, valid library card can ask for Interlibrary Loan. A current, valid library card is defined as having no overdue materials, no outstanding fines, and has a correct home address/phone number. Library cards with no activity within the past five years are routinely purged from our user files. Residents of other counties are encouraged to seek Interlibrary Loan services from their home county library.