Loan requests from other libraries

The Bodleian Libraries considers requests from other libraries for loans or copies of Bodleian material. 

Requests may be made by libraries that:

  • hold a British Library billing account; or
  • participate in the IFLA voucher scheme

This information is for institutions wishing to request items held within Bodleian collections. Oxford University members and OUH NHS staff should see our information on inter-library requests. 

How to request material

This process is for requests for loans and scans for materials held in our offsite store, and scans from items held at the Bodleian Old Library and Radcliffe Camera.

Requests for items from other Bodleian Libraries should be directed to the relevant library. Please note that each library sets its own lending policy. 

Please send requests by email to ill@bodleian.ox.ac.uk and include:

  • full bibliographic details of the item
  • your British Library account number (for UK libraries)
  • a request reference number

Lending policy

We can supply loans of physical books, and copies of book chapters and journal articles. 

We are unable to supply copies from special collections items through the inter-library requests service. Please send these requests through our special collections mediated copying service. 

Loan conditions

All loaned items are for library use only and cannot be taken out of the borrowing library for home reading. We lend material for 6 weeks and are happy to offer one free renewal per item, provided that the item has not been recalled by our own readers. Please email us to request a renewal.

Material not available for loan

Items from the following classes of material are not available for lending:

  • material published before 1940
  • material received under legal deposit and published within the last five years
  • reference works
  • unsuitably bound items (spiral-bound, ring-binder, loose-leaf, etc)
  • special collections material (including manuscripts, sheet music and maps)
  • newspapers and complete journal issues
  • audio-visual material, microfilms and CD-ROMs
  • items held on open shelves in the Bodleian Old Library and Radcliffe Camera rooms (although we can supply scans of chapters and articles from these items, within copyright guidelines)
  • Oxford University theses and dissertations. Libraries may wish to advise their readers to consult our guidance on copying Oxford theses.
  • items on current reading lists.

Lost or damaged items

The requesting library is responsible for the item and may be charged for repair or replacement if loss or damage occurs.

Copying limits and conditions

We can supply copies of 1 chapter or 5% of a book, or 1 article from a journal issue. Copies are supplied for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study only and must not be shared. 

We can supply a maximum of 50 scans per request within copyright limits. Requests for more than this will incur an additional charge. 

We can accept requests for copies from items received under electronic legal deposit, but these will be supplied as paper photocopies by post. 

Copies of the entire text of out of copyright publications cannot be supplied using this service.

Prices and payment

UK and Republic of Ireland libraries

Charges follow standard British Library inter-library request prices. Requests must include a valid British Library billing account number.

International libraries

For international requests, the preferred payment method is IFLA vouchers. However, we will accept British Library billing accounts as payment for international requests if necessary. These charges are calculated based on our IFLA voucher charges and the current Euro exchange rate and are subject to change based upon postage costs and inflation.

Our international request charges are:

 

Geographic area Loan (per volume) Scans (less than 50 pages)
Europe 3 2.5
Rest of the world 4.5 2.5

Contact us

If you need advice about requests, eligibility, or charges, contact the inter-library requests team: 

Email: ill@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 277069 

Schola Musicae
Bodleian Library
Broad Street
Oxford
OX1 3BG