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Interlibrary Loan

The Polk City Community has the ability to borrow materials from nearly every library in the state of Iowa. Interlibrary loan is available to residents of Polk City and rural Polk County only. If you live in another municipality or outside of Polk County, you will need to pursue interlibrary loan options with your community library.

Interlibrary loan is a free service up to 3 items per month. After 3 items in one month, the patron is charged $2 per item to offset mailing costs.

Interlibrary loans are a service offered by the Polk City Community Library. The Polk City Community Library must follow the rules set forth by the regulators of the ILL program. Following are the major guidelines affecting the Polk City Community Library:

  • The borrowing library must request materials using protocol established by SILO (State of Iowa Libraries Online).
  • Renewals are at the discretion of the lending library only.

The following is a guideline set forth by the Polk City Community Library Board:

  • Interlibrary loan is available to Polk City and rural Polk county residents who have an active Polk City Community Library card and are in good standing (meaning no fines or overdue items at the time of request). 
  • Patrons can request up to three (3) items per calendar month at no charge. After 3 requests in a calendar month, a fee of $2.00 per item will be charged to offset the cost of postage. This must be paid at the time of request. If the material requested cannot be borrowed, this money will be returned to the borrower. If the material is received and not picked up by the borrower, the $2.00 fee will not be refunded.
    • Patrons can only request one textbook at a time. 
    • Items newer than six (6) months will be a suggestion for purchase, not an Interlibrary Loan request.  
    • Magazines cannot be requested
  • Requests may be made in person, by phone, or by email. 
  • Patrons must have library accounts in good standing.  
  • If children nine (9) or younger are requesting material, they must have parents’ approval prior to borrowing any material.
  • Titles owned by the Polk City Community Library cannot be requested through Interlibrary Loan.  
  • Interlibrary loan requests will only be made to libraries in the continental United States.   
  • Interlibrary loan item due dates are set by the loaning library, not the Polk City Community Library. 
  • The Polk City Community Library will assess a fine of $0.20 per item per day if the ILL is not returned by the due date. 
  • Items may or may not be available for renewal.
  • Any and all fines or fees the loaning library charges the Polk City Community Library will be passed on to the patron.