As a Penn State World Campus student, you have access to virtually all of the materials from the Penn State University Libraries. There is a collection of millions of print materials at Penn State, as well as the ability to borrow from other libraries, and it is likely that you may need to request a physical item at some point in your Penn State career. The service that provides you with these materials is called Interlibrary Loan. When you go to the library website, find material, and request it, the Interlibrary Loan department gets to work right away on fulfilling this request for you.
Those of you who have already used this service know how amazing it is, but you also know that you were responsible for the cost of the return shipping. I am happy to share that through a great collaboration in the libraries involving many departments, we have launched a pilot program covering return shipping costs for World Campus students for the spring 2021 semester.
We know that budgets can be tight right now, especially as you are pursuing your education and balancing many life responsibilities. Hopefully this service helps you — and makes you more likely to use and borrow materials from the library!
Here is how the process works:
- Visit the Penn State University Libraries site and locate material you want.
- Request this material and select World Campus to get it delivered to you.
- Make sure your address is correct in your library account.
- Receive your package in the mail.
- Locate the return shipping label when you open the package.
- Save this label somewhere safe so you have it when it is time to return the material.
- Send the item(s) back using your own box or envelope and the provided return label.
- Check your library account to make sure the library received your shipment.
- Start the process again!
We sincerely hope you appreciate this new service and find value in using it. And remember, this is just one of many services we provide to you in the libraries. If you have any questions on using the library, feel free to reach out using our Ask-A-Librarian function or by emailing me directly at victoria@psu.edu.
