If SDCL doesn't own the item, you may place a request via Circuit or Link+ if a copy is available.
The library offers a special service called Interlibrary Loan (or ILL) for books or periodical photocopies not owned by the San Diego County Library, Circuit or Link+. SDCL does not charge for this service. However, the lending libraries may charge a fee.
Ask library staff for more information about this service; they can help you fill out a request.
As a San Diego County Library cardholder, you can make online requests for books from participating libraries in California and Nevada. Books requested through Link+ will be shipped to your local SDCL branch. This is a free service.
A San Diego County Library card and PIN/password.
You can request books that are currently available on the shelves of Link+ libraries. If the book you want is checked out, please try your search at another time (in other words, there is no waiting list). Some media may be requested depending on lending location.
The maximum number is 20 per item type at any one time. Requests that you have not yet received count towards the 20 item limit.
Books and some media can be kept for 21 days. Selected media can be kept for 7 days. One renewal is possible on eligible materials. In rare circumstances, a university library may also recall the book during your loan period.
LINK+ materials will not be assessed overdue fines. For lost or damaged items, the charge is $115.
Materials are the property of other institutions. All costs and fees for lost or damaged materials will be the responsibility of the customer and costs will vary based on institution and item.
A San Diego County Library card and PIN.
This is a free service for San Diego County Library cardholders.
Books that are not available through the San Diego County Library collection or available to borrow from a participating Circuit library.
Audiobooks, CDs, DVDs, and other non-book materials are not available through Circuit.
You may have up to 20 active Circuit requests and checked-out Circuit books combined. Pending requests count toward this limit.
Circuit books check out for 21 days, with one renewal.
Books requested through San Diego Circuit will be shipped to your local SDCL branch.
No. San Diego County Library does not charge overdue fines on Circuit materials.
Customers are responsible for lost or damaged Circuit materials. The replacement charge for a lost or damaged Circuit item is $100.
Once your request is submitted, we'll notify you (by email, phone, text, or mail) when your item is ready for pickup. Email or text notifications are the fastest way to receive updates.
The Circuit catalog does not display which participating library owns an item or whether a specific library's copy is available. It only shows whether a title is available to request through Circuit.
Circuit automatically selects the lending library based on availability and other resource-sharing factors. This helps provide the fastest and most efficient service.
As a San Diego County Library cardholder, you can request books and periodicals from other library systems anywhere in the continental United States. The books will be shipped to your local SDCL branch. This may be a free service if the lending library does not charge. ILL staff tries to fill your request from libraries that do not charge a lending fee first. Fines for late, damaged, or lost books are different, so please keep reading.
Contact your local San Diego County Library branch and ask them to place an Interlibrary Loan request for you.
You can request books that were published at least 1 year ago from the date of your request and are not available in our catalog, the San Diego Circuit or Link +. You can also request articles from periodicals. Materials such as audiobooks, CDs, and movies cannot be requested through ILL.
When your book(s) have arrived at the ILL department, the staff at the branch will generate an automatic notice to the patron based on their library card profile (email or mail) that will notify you that your book has arrived at the branch you requested.
If you agreed to pay a lending fee on your patron request form, you need to make a check or money order payable to the lending institution, not SDCL. Please bring your payment with you in order to check out the materials.
Three weeks, the same as a normal book checkout. Renewals are not possible, the materials must be turned in by the due date. You can submit another request for the same title near the end of your loan period if you'd like to obtain the same title again.
There is a maximum of 10 requests/checkouts at any one time. Each title is a separate request. However, a number of them might arrive at the same time and they would all have the same 3 week loan period.
For overdue books, the charge is 50 cents per day per book. For lost or damaged books, the charge is whatever the lending library charges for lost or damaged books. It is a privilege for us to be able to use their collections. SDCL does not have a claims returned policy for ILL materials.
Due to the fact that we acquire materials from lending libraries all over the continental United States (not foreign) who choose the method of shipment, arrival times vary greatly. If within the county, it could be within a few days but if on the East Coast it could take 30-45 days.
