COVID-19 update
Many library partners are not accepting interlibrary loan requests. Availability of items are limited at this time.
If Burnaby Public Library does not own an item you want, you can search for it in the Illume Online Catalogue (formerly 'Outlook') and request it through interlibrary loan. Note: Illume does not work with Internet Explorer. Please use Chrome, Firefox or Edge ; view all compatible browsers.
There are certain types of material that may not be requested via ILL:
- Circulating material already owned by Burnaby Public Library
- Books published in the last 12 months
- Audiovisual materials, such as cassettes, compact discs, videocassettes, DVDs, CD-roms
- E-books and downloadable/streaming audiobooks
In addition, lending libraries may not lend the following types of materials:
- High-demand titles, best-sellers
- Magazines (except for photocopies of specific articles)
- Reference materials
- Rare books
- Uncatalogued paperbacks
Procedure
- Go to the Illume Online Catalogue and search for your item
- Click on the item and then click Request This Item (button on upper right)
- Complete the request form and click on Submit.
If you prefer to have our staff make the ILL request, or if you have questions, please call the Library at 604.436.5400 and our librarians will be happy to assist.
Please have as much information available as possible, such as author, title, edition, ISBN, publisher, date. Use the links on the right sidebar of this page to help you find the necessary information. You may request to pick up materials at any BPL branch. The ILL procedure can take from one to six weeks and sometimes longer.
Payment
Any service fees set by the lending library are passed on to the borrowing patron. You will therefore be asked how much you are willing to pay. There are photocopy charges for articles. You are responsible for lost or damaged materials.
Items requested from the rest of Canada
You must be willing to pay up to $10 for any request that can only be filled from a library in Canada but outside of B.C. We will only charge you if the owning library charges us for the loan. However your request will not be processed unless you indicate your acceptance of a possible $10 charge.
Items requested from the US
You must be willing to pay up to $20 for any request that can only be filled from a library in the US. We will only charge you if the owning library charges us for the loan. However, your request will not be processed unless you indicate your acceptance of a possible $20 charge. Depending on which library in the US is able to supply your request, a charge may be more than $20. In this case, you will be contacted before the request is processed further.
Loan period
The loan period is four weeks unless the lending library requires a shorter loan period. Academic libraries will normally allow two weeks. Usually interlibrary loans cannot be renewed.
Returns
Please return the materials to the branch you picked them up at. Please ensure that the pink paper band with the BPL barcode is still on the material. If the pink paper band and barcode are missing upon return, you will be charged $1.00.