Books, journal articles, and other research materials not owned by the University of Iowa Libraries can usually be borrowed from other libraries.

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is a consortium of North American universities, colleges and independent research libraries. The consortium acquires and preserves newspapers, journals, documents, archives and other traditional and digital resources for research and teaching. These resources are then made available to member institutions through interlibrary loan and electronic delivery. The University of Iowa Libraries is a founding member of CRL.