Area Reference and Resource Center and Interlibrary Loan for Aroostook, Hancock, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington Counties

As the Area Reference and Resource Center (ARRC) for libraries in Aroostook, Hancock, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington Counties, the Bangor Public Library wants to help you get the right book to the right person at the right time. If the book is in our Library when we receive your request, we will send it within 24 hours of the receipt of your request. The ARRC is funded by legislative appropriations and county services.

We hope that this outline will answer questions you may have about this service. If you have other questions, please call.

Borrowing Materials

The easiest way is to have your patron request materials through MaineCat. If you aren’t a member of Maine InfoNet or if you need to borrow another way, here is how you can ask the Bangor Public Library for titles.

Asking your ARRC for titles

When requesting materials, please include as much information and detail as possible. There are many ways to request materials or information from your ARRC:

  1. Email. Please put ILL in the subject line and include your Library’s name and address in the body of each request. Email sometimes gets forwarded and always gets printed, so without your "signature" we may lose who is making the request. Interlibrary Loan email: bplill@bpl.lib.me.us
  2. Snail Mail. Please print or write legibly. If you are using a sheet of paper (you may use postcards or forms), limit the number of titles on each sheet to six. (You may send as many sheets at a time as you wish). We use these sheets to search for your books. Having a long list of requests on one sheet slows down our searching procedures.
    Mail requests to:
    ILL
    Bangor Public Library
    145 Harlow Street
    Bangor, ME 04401
  3. Phone. Please use the phone only for emergency requests with no more than three items. Please do not call between noon and 2. That is our lunch break and we are short staffed and harried. If you call at another time and get our voice mail, please leave a message and include your Library's name, address and phone number in case we have a question.
    • Phone Number:(207) 947-8336
    • 800 Number (in-state libraries): (800) 427-8336
  4. Fax. Please include your Library’s name and address with each sheet sent. Fax Number: 945-6694