Request Materials as a Member of the Public

Law Firms & Law Professionals

Make a Request

Law firms & law professional may create an Interlibrary Loan account which may be utilized to request loans of physical materials and digital scans of physical materials. Please search the UNC Libraries catalog to determine whether the resource is available at the UNC Law Library before making a request. If you need assistance in identifying Law Library resources, please contact the Reference Desk.

If you have any questions about your Interlibary Loan account or request, please contact Access Services Librarian Ted Bruns at tbruns@email.unc.edu.

Note: Other members of the public should obtain a UNC Borrower’s Card or contact their local public library to request Law Library materials via Interlibrary Loan.

Physical Loan Requests

Certain items in the library catalog do not circulate and are restricted to local use. This includes items in the Reference Collection, Reserve Collection, and the North Carolina Collection. It also includes the majority of the primary law collection, loose-leaf materials, rare books, audio visual materials, and bound law journals.

Digital Scan Requests

As part of Interlibrary Loan services to law firms and law professionals, the UNC Law Library will scan physical materials and send PDF copies in accordance with US copyright law (as noted below).

Delivery Options

Physical item requests are sent via first class USPS mail, generally within three business days. Digital scan requests are sent via email, generally within three business days. Due to budget cuts, we are not able to accommodate rush requests.

Loan Periods & Fees

The loan period for physical items is 45 days. Physical items must be mailed back to the Law Library at the patron’s expense or physically returned at the library book drop. Renewals may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

  • Physical Loans (via USPS delivery):
    • Law firms & law professionals will be charged $15.00 per item.
  • Digital Scans (via email delivery):
    • Law firms & law professionals may make two ILL requests for digital scans per quarter free of charge. Additional requests per quarter will be charged $0.25 per page with a $10.00 minimum.

Billing

Invoices will be mailed at the first of each month.

Copyright Compliance

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of Copyright Law.