Interlibrary Loans

Please note that the requesting of all Interlibrary Loans material (physical and digital) has been temporarily disabled for the festive period. We will attempt to fulfil all requests placed before Monday 14th December by 5pm on Friday 18th December, but books and articles may not be delivered until January 2021. Requesting will resume on 5th January 2021. 

As part of a phased re-opening of Library services we are now re-introducing the request of physical books through Interlibrary Loans. This service is in addition to the ongoing Interlibrary Loans digital service. Please note that the ILL service is restricted to University of Edinburgh students, staff, official visitors and NHS Lothian staff. It is not currently possible to join the library or renew memberships under any other category. It may take significantly longer to process requests at this time and physical items may be difficult to obtain due to the restrictions in place at other libraries in response to COVID-19.

No fines will accrue on items issued prior to the lockdown period and users will not be fined for the late return of items due to Library closures.

Return of Interlibrary Loans

University of Edinburgh library users: You may return your ILL items to the Main Library using the book returns machine in the entrance area, or to the site library from where your ILL request was collected. Please note that returned items will not be removed from your ILL account immediately and may still show as on loan to you after being returned.

Other libraries outside of the University of Edinburgh: Books loaned as Interlibrary Loans before the COVID-19 outbreak may be returned. Please note that returns may not  be opened immediately after being returned to the library.