Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) allows patrons to borrow materials such as books, articles, conference papers etc. that are unavailable at F.D. Bluford Library, but are available at ILL partner libraries. This is a free service for items requested from among our ILL partners. All faculty, staff, and students in good standing (no outstanding charges or overdue materials) are eligible. If you do not return items or pay fees promptly, your privileges may be revoked.  Submit an Interlibrary loan request.

If none of our ILL partners are able to loan us the requested materials, Document Delivery (DD) will attempt to acquire it. If any fees are involved great than $10.00, you will be asked if you want to pay to obtain the item. A fee will also be charged for each additional request if you request more than ten (10) dissertations per year.

  • Search our Catalog and establish the item is not already available at F.D. Bluford Library.
  • Make sure citations are complete and accurate. Spell out journal titles and other crucial information.
  • Tip: provide printouts of item information from other libraries or photocopies of bibliographies or reference lists to significantly speed up turnaround time.
  • All requests must be submitted via the online form; contact us (336.285.4164, circ@ncat.edu, or at the Access Services Desk on the first floor of the Library during open hours) if you need special accommodations under ADA guidelines.

  • Rare, fragile, or hard to pack items
  • Reference books, theses, dissertations, and books in special collections
  • Entire volumes or issues of journals, newspapers, or magazines

Many requests are filled within days, but some can take two to three weeks to arrive. Photocopies can be obtained via DD usually with a two- to four-day turnaround.

We will notify you by telephone, email or campus mail upon the arrival of requested material. We will attach a form to the front page of the item indicating:

  • The date the item is due & where to return the item

Do not remove the form. Pick up items promptly as some libraries only allow two to three-week loans.

Here is how we handle fees that arise from ILL/DD:

  • An invoice will be included with the item and must be paid with a check before you may receive the material.
  • If an invoice is forthcoming, it will be forwarded to you via campus mail or U.S. Mail. The invoice and check should be delivered back to F.D. Bluford Library, Interlibrary Loan
  • Make checks payable to F.D. Bluford Library.

  • We may have to limit you to ten (10) pending requests if the volume of requests is too high. You may be asked to prioritize your requests.
  • Requests may only be made for five (5) single articles from any periodical published in the last five (5) years, per calendar year.
  • ILL materials cannot be placed on Reserve. ILL requests made solely to "teach" students how to obtain ILL materials cannot be honored.
  • We will not accept nor process ILL requests received between December 12th to January 2nd.