Following the installation of new self-service machines in the Bill Bryson Library, all inter-library loan books must be returned directly to staff at the Help & Information Desk. ILL books can no longer be returned via the self-service machines.
You can get in touch through our live chat service or by email, and search our FAQs for answers to your questions.
Inter-Library Loan books issued to your library record will be renewed automatically wherever possible. Library staff will extend the loan 3 - 5 days before the due date, and you will receive an email with the new return date. There is a cost to the Library to renew your inter-library loan books, so if you have finished with the book, then please return it.
Not all books are renewable. Check the bookmark that came with your loan to see whether the item is likely to be renewable.
Books will be renewed regularly up to a maximum of six months, or until the lending library tell us that renewal is no longer possible. When the lending library is unable to renew the loan any further, we will email you and ask you to return the book promptly. Fines are charged at £1.00 per day for late return. Any books which are 28 days late will be considered lost and a fixed lost item fee of £260.00 (+ £10.00 handling fee) will be added to your library record.
Uncollected books or Confined loans will not be automatically renewed. If you need us to hold onto these books for longer, then please email the Inter-Library Loan team at interlibrary.loans@durham.ac.uk before the end of the collection/consultation date and we will do what we can to arrange a renewal.
Some requests can be cancelled immediately, but others could take a while. There are situations when a request cannot be cancelled, for example, if the book has already been posted to the Library.
If you have accidentally made a duplicate request, please let us know as soon as possible.