If you’re a state employee, this blog post is for you! Did you know that the State Library offers an interlibrary loan (ILL) borrowing service to all state employees? If the State Library does not own or have access to a book or journal article you need, we can try to obtain it at no cost to you. This means that you have access to books owned by other libraries. All you need is a State Library card, which you can obtain by filling out our online request form if you don’t have one already.
You qualify for use of this service if you are a current, permanent employee of the Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branches of government in Massachusetts and have a valid Commonwealth of Massachusetts identification card.
If you meet these criteria and you also have a library card, you’re ready to make your request! You can use either our journal article request form or our book request form and we’ll try our best to acquire the material you need. You can also email us at Interlibrary.Loan@mass.gov with your ILL requests or ILL-related questions.
We recommend checking our catalog first to see if we own the book you’re interested in. You can also look through our online journals and databases to see if we have access to an article you might need. WorldCat is another great resource you can use to find materials relevant to your work. Once you find a title you’re interested in, WorldCat lists which libraries own the item.
Not sure if we already own something you need? Reach out to us! We’re always happy to help.
The State Library’s membership in the Boston Library Consortium is another benefit of the interlibrary loan service we offer to you as a state employee. The BLC is composed of 26 academic institutions in the New England area, which helps to ensure a faster turnaround time for requests. As a state employee, you can get on-site access to local academic libraries projects you may be working on. You’ll just need a valid BLC card, which is separate from your State Library card. Contact the Reference Department at reference.department@mass.gov for more information on obtaining one of these cards.
A couple of things to remember about interlibrary loan at the State Library: the purpose of this service is to obtain materials in support of research programs for the state government. While we cannot supply non-work related materials for personal reading or continuing education, we do have some bestsellers and other fiction titles you can check out from the library. You’ll find many of these titles on the two bookshelves right when you walk into the library, but you can check our catalog for others.
If you don’t find what you need at our library, we suggest contacting your local public library’s interlibrary loan service. The Boston Public Library will issue a physical card or ecard to all residents of Massachusetts. You can find more information on this service here.
For more information on interlibrary loan at the State Library, take a look at this page or contact us at Interlibrary.Loan@mass.gov.
Jessica Shrey
Reference Librarian