Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Service
Get Books or Articles We Don't Have Using Our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Service
Before requesting books or articles from another library, you should search the Library Catalog (books), or the Journal List (articles) to see if we have the item you need. If you still can't find what you're looking for, then request the item through interlibrary loan.
If you have a citation, you can directly enter that information using either the book request screen or article request screen after you login to your interlibrary loan account.
For a Book (or any other physical loan)
To request an item from another library, you should begin by trying CSU+ through which you can borrow material from other CSU locations for a 16-week loan period. This material usually arrives in four (4) business days.
If your CSU+ request is unsuccessful, try the same title as an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request. Material borrowed through ILL has a variable loan period which is most often 30-60 days. The arrival time of your ILL material is also highly-variable, but is usually sooner than two weeks.
- Use the Advanced Search option in OneSearch on the Library home page
- Sign in at the upper-right corner using your Cal State LA credentials
- Click the CSU Collections radio button to expand your search to all CSU libraries
- Enter the title or your search term(s)
- Click Check for Available Services on the item you want
- From the opened record, click Request from other CSU Libraries: CSU+ and complete the CSU+ request form.
- If you receive a CSU+ request cancellation email for the reason Failed to locate potential suppliers, use the Request through Interlibrary Loan link in the email to place an ILL request.
- If you do not get any results in OneSearch for a known title, try searching your title in WorldCat. Once
you’ve found your title click the
to request the book via Interlibrary Loan.
- You will be notified by email when the item is available for pick-up at the Circulation Desk.
* Typical turn-around time for a CSU+ request is 4 business days. The turn-around time for an Interlibrary Loan request is variable, but most items are delivered within 5 to 10 business days, depending on the location and availability of the item.
For an Article
If you searched for an article in a database and the library does not have access to that journal, click the ? button to "Submit a request" for Interlibrary
Loan. Often the article will be delivered electronically to your email.
Checking the Status of an Interlibrary Loan Request
Checking the Status of an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Request
Please allow up to two weeks to receive your requested material.
If you made your request directly in the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan System (or via the link to it on "Find It" pages), you can check the status of your request by logging into the ILL system and then selecting the View / Modify Requests button.