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Whitewright Public Library

Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) provides access to articles, books, microfilm, or other materials that are not available at the Whitewright Public Library. Because we are getting material from another library, materials may take a week or more to arrive, depending on availability.

How do I request materials?

Texas Group Catalog

You must have a card in good standing with the Whitewright Public Library before requesting items. You may request items in person, by phone, email or through the Texas Group Catalog (preferred method).

  1. Click item to select it.
  2. Click Request Item button.
  3. Select Whitewright Public Library then log on using your WPL library card and password.
  4. Complete and submit request.

How much does it cost?

Interlibrary loans require a payment of $1.50 when the loan arrives. This defrays the cost of postage to return the item to the library of origin. If you do not pick up the item, you will still be charged the $1.50 fee.

What (possibly) isn't available via Interlibrary Loans?

  • Items less than six months old.
  • Items in Special Collections and reference books
  • Most genealogical materials
  • Limited availability of microfilm and audio/video materials
  • Telephone directories
  • Complete issues of periodicals or newspapers
  • Some books from small publishers or self-publishers may not be available.

NOTE: For items in special collections, genealogy or reference, we can make a request to receive a photocopy of the table of contents and/or the index. Using this information, you can then request copies of specific pages. Copies via ILL are free of charge up to 50 pages.

How long can I keep materials?

The loan length varies from library to library, but in general, most libraries offer a loan period of at least three weeks. Please be aware that most libraries will not renew interlibrary loans, but if you need to do so, please ask the library staff in advance of the due date. We can submit a request to see if the owning library will extend the deadline.

If you need an item before a specific date, please let us know. If an item cannot be filled by that time, we can attempt to cancel the request.

Where is my item coming from?

We request our items via the Texas Group Catalog (TGC). If you are placing a request though TGC, you will have the option to narrow your search to specific regions of Texas (i.e. North Texas), the State of Texas, or worldwide. To complete your request in TGC, you will need your card number and password used when you log in to the library's catalog.

Loans are filled by public and academic libraries, but we cannot request items from a specific library, such as Sherman or Denison;  it is an automated system which selects the best source available.

How many items can I request?

Please limit your requests to 10 at a time, as ILLs are time and labor intensive for staff. Please note this does not mean having ten ILL items checked out and requesting ten more, but ten items total. For example, if you have ten ILL items out and return three, you can only request three more, not ten.

Revised January 25, 2018