All residents or property owners in Penn and Harris Township or fee cardholders with a current Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library card may use this service to obtain materials not owned by the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library. Patrons with cards from other libraries, including PLAC card holders, should request interlibrary loans through their home library.
We accept requests for: books, CD's, audio cassettes,audio books, articles, and nonfiction videos/DVDs, and microfilm (see separate policy for microfilm requests). We do not accept requests for entertainment or feature films, CD-ROMS, Playaways, materials newly published within the last 6 months, textbooks or reference materials. Most libraries will not loan new material or local history/genealogy material.
It usually takes 1 to 2 weeks to obtain materials through interlibrary loan. The interlibrary loan librarian will contact you by phone, mail or email to let you know the material is ready for pickup. The length of the loan period varies; you will have at least 4 weeks from the time the material comes in. Please pick-up materials in a timely manner as there are NO RENEWALS for interlibrary loan materials.
Every effort will be made to obtain materials free of charge. If for any reason this cannot be done, you will be contacted or told at the time of the request.
We are not permitted to request any item on interlibrary loan that is owned by our library system, whether it is downtown Mishawaka, Bittersweet, or Harris, even if it is checked out. However, missing material or material that has been overdue for more than two months may be requested.
There is a limit of three ILL requests per patron at any one time. Home schooling families may have 10 requests at any one time. Materials must be returned before you may make additional requests.
