Interlibrary Loan
Thorndike Library
A world of material
Need something we don’t have? Our interlibrary loan (ILL) service provides access books, articles, audiobooks, and other materials from libraries in Maine, the United States, and internationally!
You can request materials by emailing ill@coa.edu.
ILL is a service that allows the library to request books, articles, audiobooks, and other materials from libraries in Maine, the United States, and internationally for our patrons. Materials are shipped by mail or delivered by o the library
Books and other physical items from Maine libraries may take 3-7 days to arrive while those coming from out of state may take 7-14 days to arrive.
Articles and book chapters come to us as PDFs and may take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Due dates are determined by the library we are borrowing from, typically 2-3 weeks. We can also request renewals on most items. Anything in PDF format are yours to keep for educational purposes.
Just email ill@coa.edu and we’ll see if we can get it for you.
You can also fill out a paper form (available to the right of the ILL office door on the wall) and leave it in a bit by the ILL pickup area in the ILL office.
COA students, faculty, staff, alumni: We generally borrow from libraries that loan for free. Some libraries do charge to borrow material, so please let us know on our ILL form how much you are willing to pay should there be an additional fee.
Non-COA members: $2.50 per request, plus any charges levied by supplying libraries.
Nearby institutional arrangements
- Bagaduce Music Lending Library: We can borrow sheet music for you.
- Fogler Library at University of Maine at Orono: Obtain a Fogler Library card from Thorndike Library staff.
- Joan Staats Library at Jackson Laboratory: Open to the general public, they welcome students wishing to access their science databases.
- Northeast Historic Film: Thorndike Library is a member and receives these benefits:
- Access to more than 450 videos through our Reference by Mail loan program. Each member may borrow up to 3 DVDs at a time and keep them for a week. Postage fee of $5 will apply if items are mailed.
- Access to stream many of our programs on our Vimeo channel