By: Madeline Ewanyshyn
Hi, I’m Madeline, your friendly neighbourhood Customer Experience Assistant! Let’s discuss Interlibrary Loans. Coquitlam Public Library has a vast and diverse catalogue, but we’re not always going to have what you want. What are your options if this is the case?
Well, you can submit a Suggest a Purchase for a book you think the library would benefit from buying. Feel free to fill out one of these forms and we will consider your suggestion. We like to see newer books in our collection (books that have been released in the last two years) with a broad, general appeal. If the item you’re looking for doesn’t fit that description, Interlibrary Loans is for you!
For our Interlibrary Loans, we use a database called Illume, which connects us to public and academic libraries all over British Columbia! This is a great resource if, like me, you like older books that have long been out of publication, are searching for a specific edition, or you just want to find the next book in a series that we don’t carry.
If you need assistance, we’d be happy to help you place an Interlibrary Loan at any of our three branches. But if you’d like to order from home, the process is user friendly and has lots of options for finding the right book for you.
Go to Illume, then simply search for your item using the bar on the top of the page. You can limit your search by title, author, subject matter, or any other information you have on the book. This will bring up a list of all the items related to that search. When you see the one you want, click on the title to see more. Doing so will give you all the juicy details such as publisher and publication date. When you’re ready, click on “Request” and fill out the order form, including your library card number and contact information.
Our Tech Services department will do their very best to fulfill your request, bringing your item from libraries far and wide.
Personally, I’ve used our ILL service to order an early edition of J.M Barrie’s (who wrote Peter Pan) lesser known work Dear Brutus. It was published in the 1920s and had a beautiful clothbound cover that was to die for.
If you’d like to join in this book-lending fun, have a look at our website for rules, exceptions, and other information.
Happy borrowing!
-Madeline