Inter-Library Loan POLICY

Interlibrary loans for the Sullivan Libraries come from two sources:   

• Libraries within the Sullivan University Libraries System (SUS) :

When students and faculty submit their requests to the Reference Desk the SUS ILL form is completed and e-mailed to the appropriate library.  Students are given a 2-3 business day expectation for the book to arrive.  No processing fee is charged for this service.   

• Libraries outside SUS :

Items requested must relate to research or class work.  Materials such as reference materials, DVDs or VHS tapes, or other a/v are rarely available via ILL and these requests may be refused.  Since few libraries will fill ILL requests without reimbursement of processing fees, Sullivan will subsidize a portion of the ILL fees as follows:

• Students - Sullivan will subsidize up to $5 to cover processing fees per request.   
• Faculty – Sullivan will subsidize up to $20 per request.   

For outside requests a separate ILL form is completed by the individual making the request that allows them to specify if they will pay the cost difference to obtain materials and how much.   

Sullivan University Libraries respect copyright law and utilize the following guidelines when filling requests:

• The library cannot submit more than 5 requests for articles from a particular magazine or journal title per calendar year ("Rule of 5") without paying royalty fees.
• This applies to any issue of a periodical title published within the last 5 years.  In other words, up to 5 articles can be requested from a periodical title that is dated within the last 5 years.  Otherwise, royalties must be paid to the copyright holder.
• A patron cannot request more than 2 articles from a particular issue of a periodical ("Rule of 2"). The date of the periodical issue does not matter in this instance. In other words, a patron could request up to two articles from the April 2003 issue of a particular periodical. However, if the library has met its limit of 5 requests from that particular periodical title, the request may take longer because of the royalty fees involved.
• NOTE: Please read the following Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) copyright guidelines before submitting your Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request. Copyright guidelines are in effect for ILL items. This may affect the status of your ILL request.