If you need information that is not available from books or periodicals housed in our library, and unavailable through our online resources, the next step is to try the collections of other libraries. In the Tidewater area, the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education extends direct borrowing privileges to the students, faculty and staff of member colleges and universities. You may inquire at the circulation desk about obtaining a Consortium Borrowing Card.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a privilege that academic libraries extend to faculty and students. Books and articles are borrowed from libraries all over the country for people to conduct research. At Thomas Nelson ILL privileges are extended to faculty, staff and currently registered students in the following instances:
• A similar or substitute item is not available in the TNCC library.
• The item is not available in the immediate area, or if it is, the patron does not have transportation or travel time to obtain the item. Patrons will be expected to borrow directly from academic or public libraries near their home or work.
• There is sufficient time to obtain the item. Because of the demand on the major lending libraries and shipping concerns, 3-4 weeks must be allowed to receive items.
• The ILL request must be with in the limits and guidelines of the Interlibrary Loan Code, the Copyright Code, and the lending policies of each library. In general these codes do not allow borrowing of current popular fiction, rare books, audio-visual material, and many children's books. In addition, the copyright code does not allow more than five articles from the past five years of a journal to be borrowed within one calendar year.
• Patrons must fill out an ILL Request Form (see below for form) with the correct bibliographic information, include a signature, and agree to pay any charges imposed by the lending library. TNCC does not charge for processing the requests, and at the present time, libraries in Virginia do not charge each other for ILL Loans. However, if the item must be obtained from out of state, lending and photocopy fees from $10 to $40 often apply. Patrons must also agree to pay both TNCC's and the lending library's charges for lost, stolen or damaged books and to return books to TNCC by the date indicated on the ILL book form. Overdue fees are imposed by both TNCC and the lending libraries and apply to all patrons.
• If you have questions not answered in this document, please contact Lynn Gallagher (gallagherl@tncc.edu or 757-825-3533) for questions regarding ILL requests; or Vonda Robinson (rovinsonv@tncc.edu or 757-825-3532) for questions regarding ILL processing.

Click here for a printable version of the ILL Request Form. The form is PDF format, which requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view and print. If Adobe is on the computer you're using, it will load automatically when you click on the file. If you get a screen asking for a plug-in, it means Adobe reader is not on your computer. In this case, click here to go to the Adobe site for a FREE download