What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?

The Interlibrary Loan Department provides library card holders with materials not found in any of the collections of the three libraries in the Union County Library System.
Requests are placed electronically through the Access Pennsylvania Database, a union catalog that includes the holdings of more than 2,000 Pennsylvania school, public, academic and special libraries. This database contains approximately 8.1 million titles and over 37.6 million items.

Who may borrow?

ILL is a free service for all Union County Library cardholders. The service is not available for Temporary cardholders or College Student cardholders.

How do I borrow?

The Access Pennsylvania Database accesspa.powerlibrary.org, is searchable by anyone with a web browser and an internet connection. Requests for materials may not be made online directly. To borrow material, contact the library

The Public Library for Union County

  • Email ill@publibuc.org,
  • Phone (570) 523-1172
  • In person at the library, 255 Reitz Blvd, Lewisburg, PA

Herr Memorial Library

  • Email herr@herrlibrary.org
  • Phone (570) 966-0831
  • In person at the library, 500 Market Street, Mifflinburg, PA

West End Library

What may be borrowed?

Any material found in the Access Pennsylvania Database may be requested except for:

  • Reference material or material from Special Collections
  • Material published within the last 12 months
  • Other materials such as audio-visual media.
    There is a limit of 5 requests that may be outstanding for any borrower. It can take from 2 to 4 weeks for ILL material to arrive at the library.

How long is the loan period?

The rules of the lending library must be followed if special restrictions apply. Generally, the loan period of ILL material is 2 weeks, renewable for an additional 2 weeks.

What if the material I need is not in the Access Pennsylvania Database?

Requests for material not found in either the Access Pennsylvania Database or the library’s catalog will be forwarded to The James V. Brown Library in Williamsport for searching on additional databases. This will extend the wait period to 4 – 8 weeks.