Books We Don't Have

Can't find what you are looking for? Suggest a purchase or find out if another library system has what you want.

Can’t find what you are looking for?

Here are some options for you to try:


Suggest a Purchase

Fill in our online form at the link below to submit your suggestion for us to purchase the item you are looking for.  If we do purchase this item, then we will place it on hold and notify you when it arrives.  We value all your suggestions, but we might be unable to fulfill all the requests you submit to us.

Access the Suggest a Purchase form here.

Interlibrary Loan

Submit Interlibrary Loan Request

Using your library membership, you can request items from hundreds of libraries across Alberta.  This is often the best solution for accessing older titles which are no longer available for purchase.  To make an interlibrary loan request, visit Alberta Relais

How to use Alberta Relais:

  1. Placing Requests
  2. Viewing & Cancelling Requests

ME Card

Are you visiting another place in Alberta and wish you could borrow from their library? Good news: your Shortgrass library card has the superpower to do this and can transform into a Super Library Card that can be used at libraries across the province!

Simply login to www.melibraries.ca with your card information and pick other libraries you’d like to borrow from. The site checks your personal information to make sure it’s accurate and automatically registers you with the other libraries you picked. After you’ve registered, you’ll be able to use your own library card to borrow physical items at the other libraries just like a local cardholder.


ME Card Frequently Asked Questions:

With either service, you can borrow the same formats and number of physical items as a local patron. This means that you cannot borrow ebooks or access online databases at the library you are visiting with either card.

Shortgrass cards must be obtained in person from the library. In addition, a staff person at a non-Shortgrass library must manually create an account for you the first time you visit. If you are visiting a university or college library, you must use a Shortgrass card (the ME service is only available for public libraries).

ME accounts are associated with your current Shortgrass library card, and you can sign up online for a ME account at any participating library - either before you visit, or on the spot while you're there. (Minors must still be signed up by a staff person, with the permission of a parent or guardian.)

No - your Shortgrass library card functions as both, so you don't have to carry around more than one card.

Yes. While University and college libraries are not part of the ME initiative, You can still use your Shortgrass card as a ONE card at Medicine Hat College Libraries to borrow items or pick up holds.

You can return them at the Library you borrowed them from or back at your home library (your home library will take care of sending them back to where they belong). 

All Alberta public libraries are part of this project except: Andrew, Banff, Lamont, La Crete, Fort Vermilion, Willingdon, and Zama.

No. On the ME website, you must specify which libraries you want your account information sent to. For privacy reasons, it will not automatically be sent to all of them.

When you sign up for a ME account at a non-Shortgrass library, you are entered as a patron in their system. When you check out items from that library, you can log in online to renew them, see your due dates, etc., just as a local patron would. So, for example, if you check out items from Edmonton Public Library using a ME account, you would log in on the EPL site to view those items.

You must first renew your Shortgrass card at a Shortgrass library. Then, to renew your ME account(s), go to the ME website just as if you were registering for the first time. Your expiry date, address, and phone number will be updated at the libraries you select. Any changes to your PIN number will not be transmitted - you will need to log in directly at the other library's website to change this.