Interlibrary borrowing

Stanford Libraries is networked with libraries around the world to obtain materials that are not available at Stanford for faculty, students, staff and visiting scholars. Interlibrary borrowing requests must support teaching, learning, research, or other University-related work.

How to request an item from another library

1. Check Stanford Libraries collections first- we might have it!

To avoid cancellation of your interlibrary borrowing request, please check if the item is already available:

• SearchWorks indicates if the book or source of the article/chapter is available in our library stacks and/or is available online. 
• ArticleSearch for access to 300 million articles and e-books across hundreds of licensed and open access databases. 
• Citation Linker is another easy way to check for online access to a known article citation or an e-book.
• HathiTrust Digital Library includes millions of digitized items from academic and research libraries worldwide.
• Proquest Dissertation & Theses Global provides full-text dissertations and theses.

2. If Stanford doesn't provide access, place an Interlibrary Borrowing Request for books or PDFs of articles/chapters.

• PDFs of articles and book chapters are delivered by email, usually within 7 days (varies greatly by supplying library).
• Books, microfilm and other media are delivered to Green Library by mail, usually within 10 days but varies (longer if from overseas). Books sent to Stanford via BorrowDirect cooperative arrive 3-4 days. 

3. Book delivery through BorrowDirect | New!

• Note: Stanford patrons are already receiving BorrowDirect books through the Interlibrary Borrowing Request option above. Starting in November 2017 users will be able to access the BorrowDirect discovery platform here on this page and search across the combined inventory (60 million items) of 13 Ivy Plus academic libraries, plus UC Berkeley, and place your requests for circulating books and media.
• Most books are delivered to the Green circulation desk within 4 days and may take longer if you choose a different pickup library.
• You will receive an email when the book is available.
• BorrowDirect books are checked out on your Stanford Libraries account for 8 weeks and are eligible for one 8-week renewal only using My Account. If you need a BorrowDirect book longer, simply request another copy.
• The requests filled by UC-Berkeley for Stanford faculty, graduate students and academic staff will be converted to a Direct-from-Berkeley (RLCP) request and this will often provide a significantly longer loan period. These RLCP items are checked out to the Stanford user's UC-Berkeley account and sent via courier to Stanford.
• Learn more about BorrowDirect access to the 12 other IvyPlus libraries and circulating collections.

Business, Law, Medical and SLAC researchers are served by their affiliated library

Stanford Business Library Services 
Robert Crown Law Library Interlibrary Loan
Lane Medical Library DocXpress
SLAC Research Library Services

Contact us

Email: stfborrowing@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1278
Mail: Green Library East, Room 161, One Crothers Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305

For other libraries wanting to borrow from Stanford Libraries, please see Interlibrary Lending