Interlibrary Loan
If your library does not have what you need, there is a service called interlibrary loans.
An Interlibrary Loan is a transaction between two libraries to lend materials to each other on a short-term basis. This is a service provided by all libraries in the state – academic, school, public, special. Each library will have their own policies and procedures.
ShareIt is the statewide database containing the records of items held in libraries across the state. It includes most of the public libraries in the state and links to many of the academic libraries as well. Public Libraries in the Tennessee Regional Library System are required to load their holdings into the ShareIt database which allows all these public libraries to share their resources with each other.
Firefly is Tenn-Share’s Statewide Courier. This service is a courier system that allows libraries to send books and materials back and forth to one another in the state cheaper than through other postal means.
OCLC WorldShare is available for many libraries across the state to borrow materials from libraries in the United States and even from other parts of the world. Libraries must be a member of OCLC to use this service. Not everything is able to be borrowed, for example, genealogy, medical, legal or other materials that must be used in the library that owns that material, or materials on hold or checked out, or too new. Sometimes a photocopy or scan of a few pages from these items is available instead of the complete, or actual item. Check with your library.
The regional library system participates in OCLC WorldShare, which means libraries in the regional system also have access to library collections from across the US, including the academic libraries in Tennessee. Note that this service is meant to supplement ShareIt and is not a substitute for it. So, if you’ve ever wondered if you can make ILL requests out of state, the answer is a big yes! To find out more about this service, contact your local library. Your local library will contact the Falling Water River Region, if you are in the Falling Water River, Buffalo River, Red River, Obion River, or Hatchie River regions. Or they will contact the Holston River Region if you are in Clinch River, Holston River, Ocoee River, or Stones River regions.
To borrow materials from the Tennessee State Library and Archives, review the Interlibrary Loan Policies.