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Comics & Graphic Novels: Interlibrary Loan

Getting Stuff We Don't Own

What do you do if there's a comic or article you want to read that you can't find?

Animated gif of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka leaning on his arm and looking happy. It says "So glad you asked" at the bottom.
Mel Stuart, director, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, 1971, Hollywood: Paramount Pictures, animated gif, http://gph.is/2p5eHr6.

Interlibrary loan! It's the system for requesting materials not owned by our library. It's free to you and amazing!

If you find something you want to read and it's not owned by UMass Dartmouth libraries, you may request a copy through interlibrary loan. 

How long interlibrary loan takes depends on the lending library, but requests are usually filled within 1-2 weeks for books and 48 hours for articles or book chapters. There is no emergency, immediate interlibrary loan, so it's a good idea to request something well before the project you need it for is due!

Note that textbooks and other material (DVDs, CDs, etc.) required for UMass Dartmouth classes that are available for sale at the campus store may not be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

Also, since we're talking about comics, due to the fragile format of comic books and the fact that if a library owns one, it's probably in special collections or archives, it's unlikely we can get those specifically mailed here. Try to find out if the specific comic book you want is in a collected volume (what I call a trade paperback) and request that instead!