Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary loan is a borrowing and lending program used between libraries to share materials that are not owned by every library.

Patrons of the Lee County Library System (LCLS) can request materials not owned by LCLS through Interlibrary Loan. In return, the library system lends LCLS materials to other libraries and their patrons.

LCLS follows policies, procedures and protocols established by the American Library Association (ALA), FLIN (Florida Library Information Network) and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) to govern requesting and supplying through interlibrary loan.

Anyone who has a current Lee County Library card and is in good standing (for example, no excessive fines or unpaid ILL charges, no overdue ILL material) can use the service.

Reciprocal borrowing card holders should ask about ILL services in their home libraries.  Patrons from outside the LCLS system who have a SWFLN (Southwest Florida Library Network) reciprocal borrowing card cannot use ILL in Lee County.

Before placing a request through ILL, check the library’s online catalog. If LCLS owns the item, please click “request item” to place a hold on it.

If you do not find what you need,  check FirstSearch, an interface that gives you access to the holdings of libraries throughout the world. 

Search for the books you would like to borrow in WorldCat and for articles in Article First. *We do not request audio/visual material through FirstSearch.

You can also submit requests in your local branch using ILL request cards, available at any reference desk.

You may place one request per day, including photocopy requests

Through our participation in resource-sharing networks, we can obtain most materials free of charge. However, some materials can only be found in lending libraries that charge a fee to borrow or photocopy materials.

When you fill out a request form you will be asked if you are willing to pay. If you write $0, we will only look for free lenders. Materials that require a borrowing fee are not requested until we receive indication that you agree to the charge. Payment will be required for these items upon pick up or use at the library.

Once requested, you will be responsible for the charge even if you do not pick up the item when it arrives.

All ILL material must be returned on time. Fines for overdue material will be $.20 per day.

It normally takes between 1 and 6 weeks to either obtain the material or exhaust all avenues for obtaining the material. The time it takes depends on availability of the material, the location of the library that owns the material, and the type of delivery.

ILL material is checked out for 2 weeks.

You can request books, microforms and photocopies. We will request:

• Materials owned by LCLS in e-book format only
• Materials in large print
• Multi-volume sets (lending libraries usually loan up to four volumes at a time) 

The best place to start genealogical research is at the Fort Myers Regional Library, where there are many resources available. You can request genealogy material. However, most public libraries, including LCLS, keep their genealogy items as reference material that does not circulate.

If you can provide citations of family names or other specific citations, we can request photocopies.

Some genealogy material is available only in microfiche or microfilm format. There are microform reader/printer machines at the following library locations: Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, and Fort Myers. If the material is available in microform format, you will need to use it at one of these locations.

More on Interlibrary Loan and Genealogical Research.pdf

For general Questions: Contact your local branch OR Call 239-479-4636 (INFO)

For existing requests: Contact your local branch, Call 239-533-4199 OR E-mail lclsill@leegov.com