Lending

Accessing our materials

CRL is a private library. We lend to our member libraries without cost and to other libraries for a fee. CRL does not lend to individuals.

Requesting a Title

Researchers request CRL materials through a library's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) office. 

Requests are accepted through OCLC Resource sharing services and by emailing us here.

Digital Delivery

CRL provides digital access to our materials pursuant to the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law (17 U.S.C. 107). Digital materials that are out of copyright are available open access to the general public, free of charge.

CRL's collection is available through our Interlibrary Loan or onsite at our Chicago Reading Room. CRL loans to all member libraries included in an institution’s subscription. For information about what libraries are included in a membership, please contact Access Initiatives.

Requests

The entire CRL collection is eligible for loan to our members. Digital delivery is possible when volumes are out of copyright.

Loans

Loans from CRL are meant to accommodate the needs of scholarly research. Our intention is to provide all materials needed, for as long as they are needed.

• CRL loans to CRL voting member libraries for six months with unlimited renewals.
• Member libraries are allowed an unlimited number of requests.
• A request can be for any amount of material.
• Material requested by another member will be recalled after two weeks of use. Borrowers are expected to return material immediately upon recall.

Demand Purchase Program

CRL's Demand Purchase Program acquires new material in response to loan requests for materials not held in CRL's collection in three areas, archival materials, newspapers, or International doctoral dissertations. A member's ILL department initiates requests for demand purchases. Include a note on the ILL request, “Please purchase if not owned.” As funds permit, CRL will acquire $2,000 per patron at a member library each year. CRL may turn down demand purchase requests for held materials available at member libraries.

Learn more about the Demand Purchase Program by visiting this page.

Digital Delivery

CRL will fill ILL requests through digitalization when the material is not in copyright and the request can be completed within a reasonable amount of time. Larger requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis as we have capacity. CRL provides access to scanned material on our digital delivery platform. When a request is completed, a link is sent to the requesting library.

All digitized content is fully searchable and can be downloaded in PDF files. We link to digitized material through the online catalog and create records in WorldCat. See also our collections Services page for more information.

We prefer to deliver fragile items digitally where copyright allows. If a request includes a significant amount of fragile material, CRL will notify the requesting institution that we will digitize and send a link to the delivery platform.

Article Delivery

CRL provides copies of journal and newspaper articles in compliance with copyright guidelines and fair use provisions. CRL provides these copies as scanned images, or as photocopy documents when specifically requested. Copies are delivered in several ways Odyssey, Article Exchange, Email, and photocopies mailed by USPS first class mail.

CRL's has an arrangement with the Linda Hall Science Library to provide document delivery of articles to members through the RapidILL document delivery service.

CRL provides access to some CRL collections and services for educational institutions located outside North America that maintain a global CRL membership. 

Lending CRL Collections

Items from CRL’s collection of over 3.5 million microform resources can be loaned to patrons at global member libraries for a period of 90 days, renewable on request. Global member libraries are required to pay all shipping costs and any applicable customs fees.

Digital Delivery

Loan requests are filled by digitalization whenever possible. Most materials can be scanned within five business days (requests for a single volume or reel of microfilm). Open completion CRL provides a URL to the scanned pages.  

Document Delivery

CRL provides copies of articles on request for a fee of $175.00. Copies can be delivered in several ways:

• Odyssey
• Article Exchange
• Email PDF

Linda Hall Library of Science, Technology and Engineering

The Linda Hall Science Library, as part of its partnership with CRL, provides document delivery of articles to global member libraries through the RapidILL document delivery service.

Record Loading

Obtain CRL’s records at no cost, on a quarterly schedule. You can load all of the records, just the records for digitized material, or a subset such as records for newspapers. For more information or a test file of CRL records please contact Yoseline Pluviose-Louisma in CRL's Technical Services Department.

CRL accepts ILL requests from non-member libraries for a fee. CRL does not lend to individuals or organizations without a library. Researchers at non-member research institutions may borrow from CRL through the library with whom they are affiliated.

Non-member borrowing libraries agree to the following:

• Safe return of the requested material to CRL after a 30-day loan period.
• Return postage of material by UPS or similar service.
• Immediate return of material upon recall.
• If recalled no part of the fee will be refunded.
• Return materials in original containers in which they were sent.
• A fine of $20 if the original container is not included or is replaced. 
• Pay all replacement or recovery costs if material is damaged or lost. 

Loan Periods and Recall

Non-members in the United States and Canada may borrow materials for 30 days. Loans are subject to recall after two weeks of use. CRL will recall material when it is requested by a member library. CRL does not renew loans to Non-member Libraries. 

CRL does not lend volumes held in paper outside the United States and Canada. 

CRL defines one loan as a single title of less than:

• 4 Volumes
• 4 Microfilm reels
• 4 Fiche 
• An article of up to 50 pages.

Digitization of CRL Material

CRL provides digital access to our materials pursuant to the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law (17 U.S.C. 107). Digital materials that are out of copyright are available open access to the general public, free of charge.

Non-member libraries pay a fee to digitize CRL material that is not in copyright. Once digitized this material will be freely available on our digital delivery platform. 

Fees are calculated based on labor and resources required to complete the project. Fees must be paid in advance.

CRL supplies images suitable for research needs. We supply the best copy we can. This is subject to the condition of the material from which we are digitizing. We do not provide high resolution images for publication.

Sale of a reproduction for scholarly research does not grant authorization to publish. In all cases, it is the researcher's responsibility to determine whether materials are under copyright, to discover who owns the copyright, and to obtain permission to publish.

Fees and Payment Methods

All Interlibrary Loan requests are prepaid. Articles and digitization of uncopyrighted material is $175.00 per request. We do not accept IFLA vouchers for loans.

Payment may be made by Credit Card or IFM. An additional processing fee of 3.8% is charged for credit card payments. To make a request via OCLC (IFM) enter a valid IFM code in the MAXCOST field of the ILL request form. Make sure the value of MAXCOST is greater than or equal to the cost of the loan. For Credit Card payments, contact CRL Access Initiatives to arrange payment at 773-955-4545 ext.267 or email us.

Using the CRL Reading Room as a Non-Member

Individual Researchers and those affiliated with non-member libraries may make an appointment to use our Reading Room in Chicago. Appointments to use the Reading Room should be made at least 3 days in advance of a visit. All materials are paged prior to the date of the appointment. 

Under no circumstances may visitors browse our stacks. Please see our Reading Room page for more information, call Access Initiatives at 773-955-4545 ext. 288.or email us.

For a list of CRL members, please see our members list.

For information on how to join CRL please visit our becoming a member page.

Booking the Reading Room

Contact the Access Initiatives Department, ext.288 or email us to schedule a visit.

All researchers are welcome to use our reading room by appointment. Those not affiliated with a CRL member library pay a fee. Check our member list for your affiliation.

The reading room is located in Chicago at 6050 S. Kenwood Ave. Reading room appointments are available Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (CST). Next day appointment are not always be available, please make appointments at least three days before a visit. 

The reading room is equipped with microform readers, printers, and power outlets for the use of researchers while on site. Within reason, users may bring their own devices, such as laptops, phones, and cameras. CRL reserves the right to prohibit visitors and equipment that is unreasonable, unlawful, or hazardous.

CRL follows fair use guidelines for copyright. CRL staff will not provide copyright or publication advice to reading room users. Images captured from CRL material are understood to be for personal research use.

Requesting Materials for Use in the Reading Room

• Include a list with catalog links for all titles you would like to review. Note that you cannot add titles on the day of your appointment. For large amounts of material multiple days on site are suggested.

Reading Room Fees

• All fees for visits are paid on the day of the visit.
• Payment with cash or credit card is accepted.
• There is an added fee for credit card transactions.
• Independent researchers and not-for-profit agencies are charged a fee of $25.00 per day.
• Undergraduate/graduate students and faculty at non-member universities are charged a fee of $50.00 per day.
• Commercial users are charged a fee of $75.00 per day.
• Should a visitor need added days to review material an additional daily fee will be charged.