'Get It For Me' Helps Students and Faculty Over 4 Million Times
By Ivy Mestrovic, Communications Specialist
Bethany Startz searches for a book in the Evans stacks after a request from a “Get It For Me” patron.
Students, faculty and staff saved over $2.5 million during the 2023 fiscal year by borrowing print and electronic books through the Get It For Me interlibrary loan program. The year also brought the fulfillment of 4 million loan requests through the platform.
This service enables all Aggies to research and study with access to needed materials, even if they are studying through distance education or on a satellite campus. Get It For Me provides access to all of The Texas A&M University System's information, materials, and resources, and an extensive network of lending libraries.
Texas A&M University offers 125 distance degrees and certificates, and Get It For Me supports all of them. Distance education students who sign up for the service have materials mailed directly to an address of their choosing, with a return envelope and postage provided for easy returns. Additionally, the service supports the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen, Texas A&M University at Qatar and The Bush School of Government and Public Service in Washington, D.C.
In addition to helping students, Get It For Me supports faculty research.
"You had to go through the stacks before," said Dr. Richard Curry, directory of graduate studies for the Department of Global Languages and Cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences. "Now, the Libraries deliver it to you. You look up a book in the library, ask for it and check it out, and two days later it's in your mailbox."
In 2023, 72,641 requests were fulfilled by Get It For Me. Texas A&M faculty, students and staff accounted for 48% of those requests. Graduate students made the most requests, followed by faculty, undergraduate students, then staff. The other 52% of loans went out to other libraries, completing the pay-it-forward circle of borrowing and lending that enhances research and supports curiosity across the world.
No Get It For Me request is too small. Hillary Merzdorf, a postdoctoral research student in the College of Engineering, turned to the service to finish some personal reading.
"This is not the first time I've used Get It For Me," said Merzdorf. "Right away, when I wanted to start finding journal articles that weren't available through the Texas A&M System, I knew that Get It For Me was an option. And so I thought, you know, since I already knew it was a thing for research, I thought it could be a good way to find books that were hard to get too."
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About Texas A&M University Libraries
Comprising five unique libraries, the Texas A&M University Libraries are a hub of resources, spaces and professionals supporting the success of research, learning and teaching. The Libraries’ advance student success and partner in innovative research, while providing a physical and digital home to all students, staff, faculty and researchers. To learn more visit library.tamu.edu
