Request policy

All items of book stock can be requested free of charge unless they are reference copies or out of County requests.

A request service is offered to:

• provide access to the lending stock of all our libraries, for all registered CWF Library Services’ members, irrespective of their place of residence
• provide access to books, wherever possible, which are not part of our own stock through purchase or through borrowing from other inter library lending networks, outside the area. The request service is available to all members of the library service except for Digital Resource Only Memberships

Requests are free. A fee is only charged if there is a need to apply outside Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness, and the fee charged reflects and offsets the greater costs involved. There are no concessionary rates for this service, it is payable by all library customers. If these items are renewed, further charges apply.

We will try to supply any item which is legal, (that is, not proscribed by current legislation) either by purchasing or attempting to borrow from other libraries.

Titles which are not immediately available, such as titles not yet published, or out on loan to another reader may be requested.

While we encourage requests from members, it may not be possible to supply specialised, excessively expensive titles, or books published in an unsuitable format for public library use. The decision to buy or borrow in print titles will be taken in accordance with the CWF stock policy, budget limitations, and securing best value for money.

We will try to satisfy requests for foreign publications subject to availability in the UK and within publisher’s copyright and licensing restrictions.
Book titles found on the internet are sometimes only published in the USA and therefore are not available to UK libraries, in which case we are unable to supply them.

We accept suggestions for recently published items not held in stock, but we do not guarantee to purchase them. Once a requested title has been obtained we will notify the customer as soon as possible and the item will be reserved for collection for 10 days.

New stock, which is requested, will be treated as a priority and will be processed first when received into the library.

County Stock

We will endeavour to supply items held in County stock from the nearest and/or earliest service point available to the requesting library. (Please note restrictions may be placed on renewals by the library which has loaned the title. For example, the title may be in high demand.)

Some items not held in Cumberland Libraries or Westmorland and Furness Libraries may be obtainable from British Library and other inter library-lending networks. However, on occasion, they may not agree to supply, in which case a copy for loan is unobtainable.

The British Library’s Collections are extensive but they do not hold a copy of every book published. The British Library also excludes purchasing books in certain categories, which can limit the items we can try to borrow.

Materials may be supplied in other formats such as photocopies. These may incur an additional charge. Some titles may only be available for use in the library and not available to take home.

Local history and reference materials

Some titles may only be available for use in the owning library due to the physical condition, rarity, value or lack of availability.