Interlibrary Loan Temporarily Suspended

Due to an issue with our contracted book delivery service, the decision has been made to turn off materials requesting between libraries beginning on June 4^th, which means that no new holds can be placed and existing holds will not be fulfilled. If you would like an item owned by Lewiston, these are still accessible through your account and staff would be happy to assist you if needed.

Because of a transition of services, the delivery of materials between Lewiston and other libraries will be temporarily suspended starting on July 1^st.  While the Maine State Library is working as quickly as possible to resolve this, we anticipate the interruption to last at least 6 weeks. Turning off requesting before this happens will allow materials currently in transit to be delivered and will reduce the flow of new material entering delivery. This will help get as many items back to their owning libraries as possible and will help ensure materials are not stranded in the delivery system. Please do not cancel any holds on your account so they can be fulfilled once service has resumed. This includes any items “in transit” which are likely to arrive prior to the shutdown.

We know that this is a challenging situation and recognize and feel the same frustration with this situation that you all are feeling. If you would like additional information about this process, please visit https://maine-msl.libguides.com/c.php?g=1393867. You may also contact Beth Crist, Director of Special Projects or Lori Fisher, State Librarian, with any questions or comments: beth.crist@maine.gov, 207-816-2999 or lori.fisher@maine.gov, (207) 287-5600.