Borrow Direct enables Columbia University students, faculty, and staff with library borrowing privileges and active e-mail accounts to borrow books directly from the libraries of Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. The service currently does not support deputy borrowers.

Log In to Borrow Direct          How to Use Borrow Direct

Having trouble deciding between Borrow Direct and ILL?

Need to find the due date of your Borrow Direct book or want to renew it? Log in to your CLIO My Library Account and check your Charged Items list. Your Borrow Direct books appear in all capital letters and have an Item Type of "bdir."

New!

Borrow Direct now offers

• keyword and advanced author, title, and subject searching of the collections of Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University
• a 6-week loan period, plus one 6-week renewal
• delivery to more libraries on campus, including Butler Library, The Burke Library, Business and Economics Library, Engineering Library, Lehman Library, Science & Engineering Library, Social Work Library, Health Sciences Library, and Barnard Library
• integration of Borrow Direct books into your My Library Account in CLIO (Borrow Direct books will now be checked out to you like other Columbia-owned library material. Please note: Borrow Direct books are now subject to the same fines and fees as Columbia-owned material.)
• improved requesting for multi-volumes (you may now request up to 5 volumes with one request; specify the volumes number(s) in the Note field before submitting the request)
• a link to the interlibrary loan (ILL) system to request material unavailable in Columbia’s libraries or through Borrow Direct

What Can Be Borrowed via Borrow Direct  All printed books (monographs) and music scores that are lent by the owning library with the following exceptions:

• books held in the Columbia library collection that are not checked out, non-circulating, or on reserve
• books assigned to reference, reserve, or rare book collections by the owning library
• bound journals or journal articles
• audio–visual material (DVD’s, videos)
• microforms (film, fiche)

Response Time  Available books usually arrive within four to five business days after requests are submitted.

Notification  A notice is sent to your Columbia e-mail account when a requested book arrives.

Pick-Up Locations  Butler Library, The Burke Library, Business and Economics Library, Engineering Library, Lehman Library, Social Work Library, Health Sciences Library, and Barnard Library, during scheduled library hours.

Loan Period  Six weeks. Recalled books must be returned within three days (standard daily fines will accrue for books not returned by the needed by date).

Renewals  One six–week renewal.

Return Location  Return materials to the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) office in 307 Butler Library or in the drop-off slot next to the office door. Alternatively, you may return Borrow Direct materials to any Columbia University Libraries location, except Teachers College, Law, and Jewish Theological Seminary. Please allow a minimum of one business day for the materials to be routed to the ILL office for return to the lending library.

Out-of-Scope Materials  To request materials that are outside the scope of Borrow Direct (e.g., journal articles), use Interlibrary Loan or other Request It services.

Contact Borrow Direct  borrowdirect@columbia.edu or call 212-854-7535.

How to Use Borrow Direct

Click on Log In to Borrow Direct and enter your Columbia network ID (UNI) and password.

Enter your search term(s) in the single Simple Search box, or click on Advanced Search for more options. Advanced Search gives you the option to

• search by keyword, author, title, subject, and/or ISBN
• combine two or more search types, e.g., author and title, keyword and subject
• limit your search to “all of these words,” “any of these words,” or “this phrase”

Look for the “Searching” message, along with a spinning circle icon in the upper right–hand side of the screen, to watch the search progress. The system indicates that the search has been “Completed” when all matching records are found for your search term(s).

Click on the specific title you're interested in to determine if it can be borrowed via Borrow Direct.

The system will look for available copies (“Searching for all copies everywhere”) and will display the results below the item’s bibliographic information (author, title, publisher, subjects, etc.). Note: You may have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen to see the available copies and the Request button.

If the item is available to borrow via Borrow Direct, select a pick–up location from the drop–down list and click on the Request button.

• If the item is available locally in the Columbia Libraries collection, you may wish to transfer to CLIO for more information. If the item is held at Columbia’s Offsite location, you may place an Offsite Request for it using the “Request from Offsite” button from the item’s bibliographic record. Offsite materials can be delivered to any Columbia library.

A request submission message will display, including your request number. You may wish to print this for your records.

An E-mail Confirmation will be sent to you when your request is accepted by the system, generally within a few minutes. Make sure to save the e-mail and request number in case you wish to check on the status of your request at a later time. You will receive another e–mail message when the item is available for pick–up at the location you selected.

To Return to the Search Screen: Click on the Borrow Direct logo to return to the single Simple Search box, or click on the Advanced Search link for advanced searching options.

Log Out:  Make sure to click on the Click here to Log Out link that appears at the top of the Borrow Direct screen to ensure your privacy and the security of the system. Then close the “Thank you for using Borrow Direct” window.