Interlibrary Loans
When OPL does not have a book or article that you are looking for, you can request to borrow it from another public library system in Canada through an interlibrary loan (ILLO) request.
How to use the interlibrary loan service through Oakville Public Library
Each customer is entitled to place five interlibrary loans requests per week, with a maximum limit of 15 pending requests.
Please note the bibliographic information available for materials on the interlibrary loans catalog is for information purposes only, and does not reflect the actual availability of these items. The lending library may impose borrowing restrictions at any time, on any title in their collection based on the lending library's policies.
Important to note about ILLO loan periods
- All ILLO items which are not returned after 7 days past the assigned due date will be set to lost automatically.
- A non-refundable lost fee will be applied to the user’s account (as assessed by the lending library).
- These fees/charges are permanent and cannot be reversed.
How to Request an Interlibrary Loan
OPL cardholders can submit an interlibrary loan request online through Information Network for Ontario or contact our reference staff at one of our branches for assistance.
Before submitting an interlibrary loan request, please ensure that Oakville Public Library does not already own the item. You can do this by searching our catalogue. Some materials are not available through the interlibrary loan service, see our Frequently Asked Questions for the full list of exclusions.
Placing an interlibrary loan request Online
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Register using the Interlibrary Loan Account Registration Form. Please note in order to register you must be an OPL cardholder.
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Visit the Information Network for Ontario and select English or French
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Sign in under “My Account” and enter your user ID (all 14 digits of your library card barcode) and your password assigned to you during registration.
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Select “Oakville Public Library” as your library location from the drop down menu.
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Always select “SOLS Niagara Peninsula” as your initial search under the “Current Profile” drop down menu.
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Select Oakville Public Library link at the top of the “Search Results” screen to have Oakville display first in the results.
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Select “Details” to verify if the item is the one you want. Please choose a record with an ISBN number. Requests without ISBNs take longer to fill.
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Select “Get it!” to place the request. Item details are automatically entered in the Interlibrary Loan form.
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Complete the form by selecting your preferred Pickup Location from the drop down menu at the bottom of the form.
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Click “Request”.
Picking up your interlibrary loan
You will be notified when your item is ready to be picked up from your selected branch. Please note your interlibrary loan requests will not appear in the Holds section of your My OPL account.
The average time for an interlibrary loan request to be filled varies between 2-4 weeks. Materials borrowed through the interlibrary loan service cannot be renewed.
Still have questions?
See our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us.
