Interlibrary Loan

What is interlibrary loan (ILL)?

• Interlibrary loan is a service which provides you with study and research materials not available in the Coates Library. We borrow books, DVDs, and CDs for you from other libraries and deliver electronic versions of journal articles and book chapters to your desktop. The conditions of this service are set by local agreements, the regulations of the individual lending libraries, and the National Interlibrary Loan Code.

• The Coates Library uses an ILL platform called ILLiad to manage your requests.

Who may use ILL?  

• Current Trinity University students, faculty, retired faculty, and staff in good standing are eligible. 

• Coates Library covers the cost of ILL services for students. 

• Coates Library subsidizes the cost of ILL services for faculty members up to $500 per faculty member per fiscal year.  We ask that the academic department cover fees that exceed $500. 

• Retired Trinity Faculty Members

  • Retired faculty frequently continue to pursue their research interests. The interlibrary loan unit is pleased to offer its services to help obtain the materials that support their research, because public libraries are often unable or unwilling to obtain academic or research materials. 

    For leisure reading, however, those same public libraries are well equipped to borrow books from other libraries. In addition, public libraries have much better collections of popular fiction and films than Coates Library. We encourage you to get a library card and take advantage of your tax-supported services. 

    For materials that support your continued academic research, we are happy to seek out and supply them. At no charge to the requester, we will fill any request that incurs a fee of $20 or less; the requester is responsible for charges in excess of $20 per request. 

    If you have questions about the extent of interlibrary loan services for retired Trinity faculty, please contact Jane Costanza, Head of Library Resource Management.