What service allows libraries to borrow or lend materials to other libraries when items are not locally available?

• A. Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
• B. ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
• C. Collection Development Policy
• D. Diversity (Collection Development)

Answer: (A)

Interlibrary Loan is the service that lets libraries borrow or lend materials from one another when something isn’t available in the local collection. It expands access by connecting with partner libraries to request books, articles, or other items for a patron, handling the process from locating a lender to arranging delivery and loan periods. This kind of sharing is often called resource sharing or an ILL network, and it makes it possible to access materials beyond what a single library owns.

For context, an ISBN is simply the unique identifier assigned to a book, not a lending mechanism. A collection development policy guides what the library decides to acquire and keep. Diversity in collection development concerns ensuring a range of perspectives and subjects in the library’s holdings, not how items are obtained from other libraries.