Placing Holds on the MelCat Catalog
Do you need a Book or Material that our library does't have? 
You are now able to request your own Interlibrary Loans from the MelCat Statewide Catalog.
Elsie Public Library is pleased that our library is is one of the participants in MeLCat, the Michigan Electronic Library Catalog. MeLCat is Michigan's new statewide online union catalog and resource sharing system. It contains the combined holdings of all participating Michigan libraries and is expected to eventually include approximately 12 million unique titles representing 48 million items. Other Michigan libraries will be added to MeLCat on an ongoing basis for the next several years.
Our Library patrons will enjoy the following benefits through MeLCat:
- Ability to request library materials from any place at any time
- Monitor the status of your own information requests
- Search over the Internet to quickly identify materials owned by all types of libraries statewide.
- Access to valuable local history materials and digitized items
Elsie Public Library has always offered interlibrary loan service to our patrons, but MelCat opens the door for browsing the collections of additional libraries. If an item is not available at our library, a patron may simply search MeLCat on a public access computer in the library or from home. Initiate your own interlibrary loan requests by using MelCat or you may continue to receive assistance from a librarian. In order to make requests and borrow materials, a person must be a registered library card holder in good standing at the Elsie Public Library.
Materials that are owned by our library may not be requested from another library.
Here is how it works:
- Access the MelCat Statewide Catalog.
- Select the search criteria: keyword, author, title or series title.
Type in the information. - Click the Find It button
- The next page shows a list of materials matching your request. Click on the title for more info about the material. You may also click on the name of the owning library to visit their library’s website.
- If you want to request a title, click on the checkbox to select the material. Click on Get This For Me!
- The Requesting Page asks which library card/account do you want to use? Click on the pull-down menu button. Scroll through the list of libraries and highlight Elsie Public Library.
- Click the Submit Button.
- Input your name and library card number.
- If you have registered your e-mail address with us, an automatic confirmation notice will be sent to you.
How to renew a MelCat ILL item
Melcat participants allow one renewal per item. You cannot renew an item until 7 days before the due date. Login to MyMel in Melcat, locate the item to renew and select renew. To renew an ILL item, call the library at least five business days before the item is due. A one time renewal of interlibrary loan materials are granted at the discretion of the lending library.