Can I place a request on any item?
While most items can be requested, some items cannot.
Some equipment like laptops and charging kits, Schlow's 7-day DVDs and Lucky Day books, and reference or genealogy titles stored in the Pennsylvania Room cannot be requested.
To save on shipping costs and fill requests more efficiently, popular titles do not transit between Schlow and the Centre County Library System while they are in demand. The Centre County Library System includes the Centre County Library and Historical Museum in Bellefonte, Centre Hall Library, and Holt Memorial Library in Philipsburg.
Popular titles include:
- New Adult fiction (for the 1st 6 months in the system),
- Items with long request lists (from any genre or age range),
- Titles with sustained popularity.
If you cannot place a request, make sure you've selected your Home Library as your pickup location and try again. If you've selected your Home Library and the request still doesn't work, that item may be in a special collection that you cannot request.
How can I tell if an item is a Popular Title?
Click the Find it button and, under the Holdings tab, look for a "Notes" line. If you see any of the options below, this title is currently a Popular Title.
- "New Books" (August New Books, September New Books, etc.)
- This title will stay Popular for 6 months from the month mentioned in the note.
- Popular
- Special collection
What is my Home Library?
Your Home Library should be the location you use the most and where you want to pick up your requested items. When you request an item, your Home Library will be the default option under Pickup Location. If you need to change your Home Library because you've moved, please contact the new library you want to switch to using.
Some special collections can only be requested by patrons with certain Home Library locations.
Schlow Library patrons cannot request the following Centre County Library System items:
- New Adult fiction titles only owned by a Centre County Library.
- Request Schlow buy any New Adult fiction titles we do not own via the Not in Catalog form.
- 7-day DVDs
- Museum passes
- Playaways, wonderbooks, and other children's kits
- Hotspots
Centre County Library System patrons cannot request the following Schlow items:
- New Adult fiction titles only owned by Schlow
- Request Centre County buy any New Adult fiction titles they do not own via the Suggest a Title form.
- Switch and Switch 2 video games
- Board games
- Tonies and Tonieboxes
- Museum passes
- Hotspots
If an item in a special collection is checked in, can I go to that location to check it out?
If you cannot request an item and it is showing checked in, please double check that item's location by clicking the Find It button.
The Holdings tab lists specific locations for each item. Then, if you would like to go there to borrow it in person, you are welcome to call that location in advance to confirm the item is on the shelf.
Locations and contact information for each library is below:
How do I ask my Home Library to buy a title I cannot request?
If you are a Schlow Patron, please use our Not in Catalog form to ask Schlow to buy a title that the Centre County Library System owns.
If you are a Centre County Library System Patron, please use their Suggest a Title form to ask them to buy a title that only Schlow Library owns.