Material that is not in the Mechanics’ Institute Library’s collection may be borrowed from another library via interlibrary loan. It takes between two to six weeks to fill an interlibrary loan request. The average loan period is three weeks. Members can use our ILL webform or print out an interlibrary loan form (pdf), complete it, and return it to the Library via fax, mail, or in person to the third floor information desk. Alternatively, members can contact Bobbie Monzon concerning their request. The Mechanics’ Institute Library does not borrow from institutions located within San Francisco that are freely accessible to the public. A maximum of five requests will be processed per member per month.
All materials obtained through interlibrary loan are subject to the policies of the lending library and to international copyright laws.
Charges
The Mechanics’ Library charges $10.00 per book or multimedia material request.While lending libraries, as a rule, do not loan entire journals or newspaper issues, copies of magazine or newspaper articles can be obtained with a $5.00 processing fee. Lending libraries may add additional charges to these loan or copy fees, which will then be added to the total cost of the ILL request Members must indicate how much they are willing to pay in additional charges. Overdue fines for interlibrary loan materials are $.50/day.
Interlibrary Loan for Nonmembers
The Library provides photocopied material from its collection to nonmembers via ILL at a charge of $.25/page up to 30 pages.