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Interlibrary Loan: Items Not Available From ILL

How to use Interlibrary Loan.

Materials that are excluded from interlibrary loan:

  • Materials owned by the USC University Libraries (Columbia Annex, Education, Film, Government Documents, Law, Maps, Microforms, Music, Rare Books and Special Collections, Science, South Caroliniana and Thomas Cooper) and are available to use may not be requested through interlibrary loan.  This includes items which have been placed on Reserve for use by Columbia patrons, and items that we own in electronic format.
  • We will request items owned by the USC Medical School Library for USC-Columbia faculty members only.  Other users should visit that library, which is located at 6311 Garners Ferry Road in Columbia. For more information, contact the USC School of Medicine Library at (803) 733-3361 or visit the web page.
  • Books cannot be ordered for Reserve Room use.

Materials that may be difficult to obtain through interlibrary loan include:

  • Whole issues of journals and periodicals
  • Electronic format books (e-books). Interlibrary Loan has limited ability to borrow e-books.  If you submit a request for an item in e-book format, we may obtain a physical copy of the item for you if we are unable to fill it in an electronic format.
  • Rare materials, including manuscripts
  • Reference materials
  • Genealogical and heraldic materials
  • Many dissertations, especially those printed before 1952.
  • Books published within the last year, including current fiction
  • Films, videos, CDs, records, and audiocassettes

Please note that there is no interlibrary loan service between Thomas Cooper Library and Richland Library. If you are a Richland County resident, or if you are a student living on campus with a valid student ID card, you have borrowing privileges at Richland Library.  

If a requested item is found to be available at a local library, the Interlibrary Loan Department may refer a patron to that library. 

Contact the Interlibrary Loan Department staff at (803) 777-2805 or by e-mail at uscill@mailbox.sc.edu if you have questions about what materials are or are not available through interlibrary loan.  Office hours are 8:30-5:00, Monday through Friday.

We do not accept orders for textbooks and other classroom materials that are available at the USC bookstore for currently-offered courses.

Please check out Thomas Cooper Library's Textbook Reserve for information on textbooks available for two hour check-out within the library building.