Book Traverses North America to get to NPL

Have you ever gotten a book by Interlibrary Loan?  Interlibrary Loan, or ILL, is a way for us to help you get access to a title that may be older, out of print, too expensive, or too specialized for us to purchase for our regular collection.  Instead, we borrow the book from another library that does own the item, and then lend it to you!

Books have come from all over the U.S. to be used by patrons here in Pullman.  It's difficult to be precise when calculating how far a particular item has traveled through the mail, as a package may take an unexpected route.  It is safe to say, though, that some books have come a pretty long way: ILL items have been received from libraries in Alaska, Maryland, and Washington, DC.  The furthest a book has come from is an ILL that arrived from a library in New York, New York.  If we drove to the lending library to drop the book off, it would be a trip of 2,739 miles... each way.

We have also shared our books to many libraries in the region and throughout the country.  Neill's items have been shared with libraries in California, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas.  The furthest one of our books has traveled is to a library in New Haven, Connecticut, a road-trip distance of 2,822 miles.

Not only can a book take you anywhere without having to leave home, a book might travel even farther just for you!