What Can We Help You Find?

Interlibrary Loan

When an item isn’t available in our system (BCCLS,) Interlibrary Loan (ILL) may help. ILLs are for Ridgewood patrons only. Full FAQ can be found below the form.

Requesting an Item Through ILL

  1. Search our catalog to make sure no other library owns the item.
  2. Search JerseyCat or WorldCat to find the information required by the ILL form, such as ISBN.
  3. Note the charges:
    • $1 for each title if borrowed from a NJ library.
    • $1 plus a portion of shipping charges for items outside NJ.
  4. Complete the ILL form below or:
    • Visit the Reference Desk to complete a paper application.
    • Call (201) 670-5600, ext. 2130.

ILL Request Form

Contact Information

*indicates required field.

Item Information

We cannot request blu-rays, any digital materials (ebooks, eaudiobooks, digital music, or movies and TV shows not on DVD) or video games.

Only one season per request, please.

If the item has come out in the last year, please send a suggestion to ask@ridgewoodlibrary.org instead. We cannot get items that are less than a year old.

Many libraries only send out digital copies of journal/magazine articles. Only request physical copies if you absolutely need it.

Acceptance of Possible Charges

By selecting 'I agree', you are agreeing to the charges below should we acquire the item. If we are unable to get the item, you will not be charged.

You will still be charged if:

  • You no longer wish to have the item and do not cancel the request before it arrives.
or
  • You do not pick the item up.

By checking this box, you agree that there may be an additional, unknown charge (some items are free, others can be as much as $25 or more.) Because journal requests are so specialized, many libraries charge an extra fee for electronic duplication or to send out the original item. Once we know what it is, we will contact you to verify that the amount is acceptable.

FAQs

Wait time is between two weeks to two months. We will contact you when we have received your requested title or when we learn the title is unavailable. Thank you for your patience. We are the whims of delivery services and other library’s schedules.

You cannot request anything that has been published in the last 12 months. Libraries tend not to loan items out that are still in high demand with their own patrons.

If you wish for this item to be added to the collection, please call (201) 670-5600, ext. 2130 or email ask@ridgewoodlibrary.org and we’ll forward your request to our purchasing manager. If it meets our collection guidelines, we’ll do our best to place the item on hold for you as soon as it is available.

You cannot request console video games (e.g. Nintendo Switch or PS4 or PS5,) Blu-rays, eBooks and other digital media. Anything that is available in BCCLS also cannot be requested via ILL. For media and digital materials, check out our digital services to see if a copy is available there.

Your item will be waiting at the second floor Reference Desk. The item will already be check out on your card and you’ll be charged the $1 fee for in-state or $1 plus postage for out-of-state items when you pick it up.

Because ILLs are processed differently from our regular items, and held in a different location, we don’t put your ILLs on hold. Instead, we check them out to you directly as soon as they arrive.

All ILL items appear as “RGWD Uncatalogued ILL” on your card. Don’t worry. This is because ILLs work a little differently from the rest of our collection.

Call or email our ILL coordinator as soon as you no longer need the item. If the item arrives before you have contacted the ILL coordinator, you will be charged the ILL fee for that item.

Pick up and return your requested item only at the Reference Desk, on the second floor. Do not return your ILL anywhere else. Please also make sure to return the pink paper with the item, if it is no longer on the cover.

Items are checked out to you for 14 days, starting the day the library receives the item. The item may or may not have automatic renewals, depending on how long the loaning library has given us.

Sometimes. If we are able to add automatic renewals to an item, we will.

If you do not have any renewals left on the item, contact the ILL Coordinator at least four days before the due date. The ILL Coordinator will email or call to notify you whether or not we have renewed the item and, if so, the new due date.

While we are fairly lenient with ILL fines, the answer is yes. We charge $0.20 a day. Any additional fines are determined by the lending institution. The individual borrower and not RPL is responsible for paying any fines.

To avoid them, please make sure you request a renewal in a timely fashion and do not keep items past the end date on your account or communicated to you by the ILL Coordinator.

If you lose or damage an item, you will be charged the lending institution’s replacement cost.