interlibrary loan

American  

noun

1. a system by which one library obtains a work for a user by borrowing it from another library.

2. a loan made by this system.

---

interlibrary loan British  

/ ˌɪntəˈlaɪbrərɪ /

noun

1. a system by which libraries borrow publications from other libraries

2. 1. an instance of such borrowing

   2. a publication so borrowed

---

Etymology

Origin of interlibrary loan

First recorded in 1925–30; inter- + library

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interlibrary loan

I discovered that the librarians could, through the wonder of the interlibrary loan, get me books they did not have, and that they would.

From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2018

To do that, biologists often request specimens through a kind of interlibrary loan.

From Science Magazine ● May 11, 2017

Think of a virtual, turbo-charged interlibrary loan system.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2015

Could you do your work without interlibrary loan?

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2014

Then networking computers allowed the creation of union catalogs for a region, a country, or a specific topic, furthering interlibrary loan.

From From the Print Media to the Internet by Lebert, Marie