Q. What if the library doesn't have what I want or need?

That is a good question! Moody Library is a curriculum library, not a research library. The big difference is the number of books that we have, which is nothing close to UH or Rice. If you discover a book or article that you need and we don't have, here are the options.

 Interlibrary Loan

• Books
  • On-campus students can fill out our Interlibrary Loan book request form to have the book sent to the Library free of charge for pickup.
  • Off-campus students - emailing physical books is costly to both students and library. Our suggestion is to check for physical copies of books from WorldCat and speak with your nearest public library branch. Most can request items just like academic libraries. This will be the fastest and cheapest way to get what you need.
• Articles
  • All students can request any article that does not have full-text access.
  • Recent articles may be delayed or embargoed by the publisher for certain periods of time (variable by publisher). 
  • Articles may take 24-72 articles to receive. If time is an issue, then please plan ahead as we are dependent on other libraries to fill your order.
  • Requesting articles
    • Please fill out our Interlibrary Loan article request form.
    • NOTE: Services and many databases will have the option to submit a request form directly from that article of interest. These will automatically fill out the citation where our form above requires copy/pasting. You will just need to enter your contact information. 

TEXSHARE CARDS

• If time is critical, the Library can provide you with a TexShare card. TexShare program is a program facilitated by the State Library of Texas. We have a statewide agreement among libraries granting TexShare cards to borrow directly from other TexShare libraries (public or academic).  Using a TexShare card HCU currently enrolled students, faculty, or staff can borrow books in person from participating libraries. UH and the University of St. Thomas both participate in the program. Most TexShare library policies allow a maximum of four physical book checkouts. A TexShare card can be obtained at the Reference Desk or the Circulation Desk along with a list of the local libraries that participate in the TexShare program. Rice University does not participate in the TexShare card program.
  ​​​​​​​

Borrowing from Rice University

• Come to the Reference Desk.
• Student/Faculty must be in good standing with Moody Library.
• Fondren Library will want to know what books you would be interested in checking out.
• Librarians must contact Fondren Library for permission before going to Fondren Library. They will also share your book list with them.
• The agreement between Rice and HCU allows our faculty, staff, and students to borrow up to four books at a time.
• The books can be returned either to the HCU Moody Library (for return by courier) or directly to Fondren Library at Rice.
• Fines must be handled through Fondren Library.
• Remember that you will need to pay a parking fee when going to Rice. There is no free parking (read their FAQ).

• Note: Any books borrowed from Rice University in person could also be requested using our regular interlibrary loan forms as described above to avoid extra travel.