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Goodbye book recall; hello interlibrary loan

As of March 1, Northwestern Libraries is dropping book recall, a service that caused confusion and disruption as competition was waged over a single copy of a book. In the place of recall, the Libraries are adopting a more practical alternative that is faster, more efficient, and less troublesome for all our patrons: interlibrary loan. 

Because ILL items come from our partnerships with other academic libraries in the Big Ten Academic Alliance, they are likely to arrive faster than the 10-day grace period typical of recalls, and they come with a guaranteed 16-week loan period. Also, Big Ten ILL books are not recalled unless needed for course reserve. 

 “All told, we think this is a net positive for our academic community,” said Circulation Services supervisor Basia Kapolka.

For questions about ILL, please contact