II
A statement of general policy in regard to inter-library loans
The primary purpose of inter-library loans is the promotion of scholarship by placing books not commonly accessible and not in use in one library, temporarily at the service of a scholar who has access to some other library. It should not be allowed to interfere with the reasonable and customary use of books by home readers, and the extent to which sending can be carried depends on the local conditions of the lending library, the importance of the service to be rendered, the character of the books desired, the distance to which they are to be sent, and a number of other circumstances.
The larger university libraries, having large numbers of professors, advanced students and other professional scholars immediately dependent on them, may find it necessary to restrict the scope of their loans in justice to their local constituency, while others may rightly extend the system beyond the limits indicated, so as to meet the wants of readers in public libraries, teachers in high schools, and others.
Libraries should not be expected to lend text-books for general class use, popular manuals or books for the general reader, inexpensive books and those which can easily be procured through the book-trade, books to assist in school or college debates, or books for ordinary purposes of school or undergraduate study. Neither should they lend books which are likely to be in frequent demand by their own readers, or books which they do not lend at home on the ground that they ought always to be accessible on the shelves. In this respect practice will naturally differ widely, one library being ready to lend books which another would consider it necessary to keep always at hand.
Caution should be exercised in lending volumes of newspapers, periodicals or society transactions and parts of expensive sets, since such volumes, if lost, are disproportionately expensive and sometimes practically impossible to replace. Moreover, periodicals and society publications are often unexpectedly wanted for the purpose of verifying references, etc., and students may justly expect that they will always be accessible with a minimum of delay.
The borrowing library should bear the expense of transportation both ways, and additional charges, if required, for the insurance of specially valuable books. It should be financially responsible for the replacement of books lost or injured in transit.
Borrowing libraries should take pains to borrow from sources nearest at hand or most naturally under obligation to lend.
Titles of books wanted should be given with all practicable precision, both to insure getting the very thing asked for and to make the labor of finding the book as light as possible for the lending library.
Applications for loans should always be made through the librarian of the borrowing library and not directly by the professor or student for whose advantage the loan is desired. If books are lent on direct request of the individual, not transmitted through the library with which he is associated, this library cannot be held responsible for the prompt and safe return of the books or for replacing them if lost in transit. Librarians are therefore justified in declining to lend on direct request and in insisting that application must be made through the librarian.