Use and service

Opening hours of the Aventinus Reading Room

Reference library

The Aventinus Reading Room – on the 2nd floor – is the special reading room for the subject of history (classical studies, works from and about Bavaria). The open-access collection comprises 23,000 volumes. In addition to its subject orientation, the reading room also serves as collection area for ordered historical printed works from the years 1500 to 1840.

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek pursues a double goal by providing this reading room. On the one hand research and academic studies, particularly in connection with older and rare books, are to be furthered in the best possible way by providing excellent working conditions. On the other hand the sustainable protection of our valuable cultural heritage, of "older and rare printed works", is to be guaranteed.

The entire collection housed in the reading room is traceable in BSB DISCOVER! (location mark: Hbfo). The collections of the Aventinus Reading Room may be used exclusively in the reading room.

Fifty-six work desks are provided.

Technical equipment

• WLAN
• Internet work places
• PC with DVD-ROM drive
• Microfilm and microfiche readers
• Earphones (available upon request at the reading room desk)

The majority of items belonging to the collection on historical studies of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is kept in stacks that are not directly accessible. To obtain books and media for home loan, these items need to be ordered using BSB DISCOVER!.
For this purpose you need a library card which can be requested in person at the library's registration office.
Ordered media are available for collection after 2 to 3 working days on average. Those for home lending can be collected in the book collection area on the ground floor.

Please note that there are also parts of the collection which cannot be ordered for home loan. Particularly valuable works or books particularly worth protecting, predominantly for reasons of conservation, for example, can be consulted in the reading rooms only.

Further services:

You cannot collect the ordered items from the library?
Delivery to your home by mail   (service at a fee)

The desired literature is not available in Munich? You need a book (or other item) from the collection on historical studies of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, but you do not live in Munich?
Interlibrary loan   (service at a fee)

Prior reservation of a working place is required for every visit to the reading room.

Further information on booking a working place in a reading room
To the date selection for the Aventinus Reading Room

Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books

The collections administrated by the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books can be consulted exclusively in the department's reading room (reference collection).

Recent acquisitions: Search system

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek acquires over 2,000 publications from the field of historical studies every month. These new acquisitions are retrievable in an information system on history and classics of their own. They can be searched systematically according to subjects, regions, time periods, resource types or free keywords. Digitized tables of contents can be viewed for many publications. In addition, direct access is provided to the online catalogue for ordering desired titles for loan.

Recent acquisitions: Subscription

The information system further offers the option to define an individual profile, which can form the basis of a free-of-charge newsletter subscription. After setting up your profile, you will be sent title lists on a weekly or monthly basis, keeping you up to date about current new acquisitions from your fields of interest.

Forming part of the series of courses of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, a subject-related information event takes place every six months on several focal topics in the field of history.

You can learn about possibilities of using:

• Bibliographic registers and catalogues
• Specific databases
• E-journals
• Internet resources
• Specialised portals
• Digital full texts

For the dates and further details please consult the schedule of courses.