Q. How can I get a copy of an item that is currently unavailable?

If you are a current student, staff or faculty member, you are eligible to use the following services:

BorrowDirect

BorrowDirect is a cooperative program among Yale's Ivy Plus partners, which allows us to share library materials. If any of the participating libraries has an available copy of the book you are looking for, it can be shipped here for your use in approximately 4 business days. You can find more information about BorrowDirect or place a request on the BorrowDirect website.

Interlibrary Loan

Yale Library can borrow library materials that are unavailable at Yale through interlibrary loan. Through ILL we can generally borrow physical books and other library materials or request scans of small portions of library materials for your personal scholarship and research needs. If you have already placed a BorrowDirect request for an item, there is no need to submit an additional request via interlibrary loan. We will try to get the book from any library willing to lend it.

More information about interlibrary loan is available on the Interlibrary Loan website.

Purchase Requests

If you would like the library to purchase an item for the Yale collection, please fill out the Purchase Request.