Inter-library loans service

If you can’t find what you want in the library catalogue, you can request books and journal articles through the inter-library loan service. 

There is a charge of £8.50 to request an inter-library loan, which must be paid even if the item cannot be supplied. If an item is supplied by the British Library, this will have a charge of £18.50. Please see our webpage on fees and charges for more information. This process can take 6 weeks or longer.

You can choose to collect your inter-library loan from any of our 33 Cambridgeshire County Council libraries.

Complete the inter-library loan request form to submit your request. You will need to enter your library card number and library PIN. Alternatively, talk to a member of library staff.

The British Library are experiencing a major technology outage as a result of a cyber-attack. The outage is affecting their website, online systems and services, which means we are not able to request inter-library loans from them at the moment.

Submit an inter-library loan request

Obtaining journal articles

We can request journal articles or chapters from books for you, for private study only.

  1. Complete the request the journal article form to place your request. You will need to enter your library card number and library PIN. (Alternatively, talk to a member of library staff.)
  2. You will also need to download and complete a copyright form before we can submit your request.
Request a journal article
Copyright form19KB–word
Size: 19KBFile format: word

The completed copyright form should be handed in at your local library or emailed to inter.loans@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

We cannot place a request for your article until we receive this form.

We will email you when your request is available.

Requests are held for fourteen days at your chosen library. Uncollected requests are returned to the owning library and will still be charged for.

This depends on the lending library service. Books from other services may have a short loan period and may not be available for a standard three-week loan.

Occasionally books are not available for home reading and are restricted to ‘in library use only.’

Photocopied periodical articles are yours to keep.

We are happy to request a renewal for your inter-library loan free of charge. However, the British Library charges £6 which we will pass on to you.

Please make your renewal request before the due date. We may not always be able to obtain an extension.

Overdue charges may apply from Cambridgeshire Libraries. See our fees and charges webpage for details. If the library that owns the book has any overdue charges, these will be passed on to you.

If you lose an inter-library loan item, charges made by the owning library will be passed on to you. The British Library charges over £150.00 for a lost book.

No, these items cannot be borrowed from outside Cambridgeshire.