Loaning media

Contact Local Lending

Phone+49 89 28638-2412
Online enquiry serviceOnline form

General

Of the books and journals of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek only around 3 percent (around 240,000 volumes) are shelved in freely accessible fashion in the reading rooms. All other media are kept in stacks (storage rooms) and must be ordered for use in one of the reading rooms or for home lending via the OPACplus/ BSB catalogue. For this purpose you need a reader pass which can be obtained 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, those for use in a reading room in the reading room in question.

Overview of the loan procedure

Placing your orderVia the OPACplus
Login12-digit user number and password
Order limit10 orders
ProvisionItems can be collected within 2 to 3 working days
Collection termWithin 10 working days counting from the order date
Loan limit30 items on loan
Loan term4 weeks for books, 2 weeks for journals and newspapers

Home lending or lending to a reading room

You can place orders for media for home lending or for lending to one of the reading rooms yourself in the OPACplus/ BSB catalogue.
Please note: In exceptional cases it can occur that media ordered for home lending can be used in one of the reading rooms only.

OPACplus/ BSB catalogue

Please note some specifics:

  • The works shelved in the reference libraries of the reading rooms do not need to be ordered. However, they are not available for home lending. The shelf mark of such items starts with the letters "Hb...", standing for "Handbibliothek" (reference library).
  • Some special holdings (e.g. books that are particularly valuable or worth protecting) cannot be ordered via the OPACplus, but must be ordered in the respective reading room. In such cases, the entry in the OPACplus/BSB catalogue contains corresponding information.

User number/ password = login

For ordering and lending books and other media a reader pass is required. On your reader pass, a twelve-digit number is printed, the user number. This number is used for logging into the OPACplus when you wish to place an order. Further, a password is required.

A reader pass (with the access identification) can be obtained exclusively in person, at the library's registration office.

Order limit

The number of orders placeable is limited for all user groups. When the maximum number of orders is reached (as a rule 10 orders) further orders can only be placed as soon as the ordered books have been collected.

Provision time span

The ordered books, journals and media can generally be collected after 2 to 3 working days. Working days are Monday through Friday.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to make ordered items available on the date of the order, since the media have to be collected partly also from stacks outside the library, in buildings on the outskirts of the city.

Notifications by e-mail

We will notify you promptly by e-mail whenever an ordered item is ready for collection. Please check whether you have already entered your e-mail address in your user account. The service is available only for such media which were ordered for home loan ("Ausleihe EG (Ausleihe außer Haus)"), and which can be collected in the book collection area on the ground floor.

Collection terms

Your orders remain stored in the system for 10 working days – working days are Monday through Friday – counting from the order date. Afterwards, the order is cancelled and the provided media are returned to the stacks.
If you have provided your e-mail address, you will be notified when your ordered media have been ready for collection for some days already, to enable you to collect them before they are returned to storage.

Opening hours

Home lending  (ground floor)
Monday – Friday10:00 – 19:00
General Reading Room  (1st floor)
Monday – Sunday08:00 – 16:00
16:15 – 24:00

Opening hours of the other reading rooms

Collecting media

Home loan

Please locate the books and media in the collection area on the ground floor and take them off the shelf yourself. Take them to the collection counter and have them booked.

Your machine-readable reader pass is required for this purpose. Media cannot be issued without this reader pass.

Loan to the General Reading Room

Please locate the books and media in the collection area in the General Reading Room (1st floor) and take them off the shelf yourself. These are already booked for you and you can work with them immediately.

Other reading rooms

Items ordered for use in any of the other reading rooms (Aventinus Reading Room; East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room; Reading Room for Music/Maps/Images; Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books) can be collected at the counter in the reading room in question.

Loan term

A printout informing about the loan period is enclosed in every medium when provided for collection.

The loan period is usually:

  • 4 weeks for books
  • 2 weeks for journals and newspapers (loan possible only to the reading rooms)

The loan period of your loaned media can also be checked in the OPACplus.
For this purpose, you need to select "Meine Daten" (my data) in the menu, and then "Konto" (account).

Direct access to the user account

Loan limit

Regardless of the place of issue (home loan and/ or loan to the reading rooms), a maximum of 30 items may be loaned at any given time.

Book delivery to your address

Books which were ordered for home loan to the local lending counter and are made available there for collection can also be sent by mail to our users' home addresses within Germany.

Further information on book delivery to your address

Opening hours of the return counter  (ground floor)

Monday – Friday10:00 – 19:00

Returning items by post

AddressBayerische Staatsbibliothek
Ortsleihe
Ludwigstraße 16
80539 Munich

Returning media

Returning items in the library

Please return the loaned books and media in due time – on the last day of the loan period at the latest – at the appropriate return counter.
Please note: Books and media which you have loaned for use at home can be returned exclusively at the return counter on the ground floor (not in any of the reading rooms).

In case you require a receipt, please inform staff at the return counter accordingly – before the return is booked. Otherwise no receipt can be issued for technical reasons.

Returning items by post

In case you cannot return your loaned books and media in person, it is also possible to send them back to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek by mail. We will unfortunately no longer be able to absorb the return shipment costs after 15 July 2022.

Please note:

  • The loan period must be complied with also when items are sent back by post. Accordingly, you should allow for several days mail transport.
  • You are liable for the possible loss or damage of the items. We therefore recommend sending the items as an insured parcel or by registered mail.
  • Please also make sure that the items are protected by suitably sturdy packaging.

Reservations

In the case that a medium is currently loaned to another user, you can usually directly make a reservation in the OPACplus.

Regulations

Reservations are handled as follows:

  • The current borrower has a guaranteed loan period of 4 weeks (or 2 weeks in the case of journals and newspapers).
    However, as soon as a reservation has been entered, this loan period can no longer be extended.
  • In case that the loan period has already been extended, the current borrower is requested in writing to return the item in question (with a newly set return deadline of 10 working days).
  • Several users can reserve a medium and will then receive it consecutively under the conditions specified above.
  • As soon as the medium is returned, it will be made available to the user who had reserved it next. This is also applicable when a medium is returned before the set deadline.
  • We will notify you (by e-mail or post) when a reserved medium can be collected.

Fees

As of January 2023, no fees will be charged for reservations.
However, any reservation fees incurred to date must be paid.

Further information about fees and payment of fees

Extensions of loan period

Please enter extensions of loan periods yourself in your user account in the OPACplus.

Extension requests made on the telephone, by e-mail or via the online enquiry service cannot be considered. The date of receipt is decisive when extension requests are made in writing (by letter, fax). To be on the safe side, please check your user account subsequently, to make sure that all requested extensions of loan periods have actually been carried out.

Direct access to the user account

Regulations

Extensions of the loan period are handled as follows:

  • A request for the extension of a loan period can be made no earlier than 7 calendar days before the expiry of the loan period.
  • Extensions will be granted under the condition that the medium has not been reserved by another user.
  • Usually the loan period for media can be extended conditionally twice by the same duration.
  • Once the original loan period has expired, it is no longer possible to extend it.
  • When an item is reserved by another user during the extended loan period, the current borrower is asked in writing to return the loaned item within 10 days.

Reminders, fees, payment of fees

Fee account

You can check the balance of your fee account in the OPACplus.
For this purpose, please select the menu item "Meine Daten" (my data) and "Konto" (account).

Direct access to the user account

Payment of fees

Please check your account balance in the OPACplus prior to every payment and settle exclusively such fees which are currently due.
Advance payment (accumulating credit) is not possible.

Due fees can be paid

  • via e-payment proceeding directly from your user account in the OPACplus
  • at the pay machines in the library, paying in cash or by cash card

  • or fees can be remitted by conventional bank transfer to:
    Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
    IBAN: DE90 7005 0000 0000 0248 81
    BIC: BYLADEMM


    In the case of a conventional bank transfer please make sure to state your 12-digit user number in the reference field, since the payment cannot be allocated otherwise.
    Please note: In the case of a bank transfer it can take several days until the payment receipt is displayed in your user account.

Directions for paying via e-payment

You can check the balance of your fee account in the OPACplus. For this purpose, please select "Meine Daten" (my data) in the menu of the OPACplus, and subsequently the item "Gebühren" (fees) in the submenu. In case there are unpaid fees, you will find a "Gebühren bezahlen" (pay fees) button, which will specify the amount of fees payable again.

In case you have a credit card (MasterCard, Visa) or a PayPal account, you can settle your fees online now with only a few clicks. In case your library user account has been locked due to overshooting the fee limit, paying by e-payment will usually unlock your account immediately. Clicking on the button "Gebühren bezahlen" will lead you to an intermediate page, on which you need to confirm again that you wish to effect payment of the amount stated ("Betrag bezahlen" button). You will then be switched to the website of the Landesamt für Finanzen, the Bavarian State Agency for Finances, where you can select the payment service (MasterCard, Visa, PayPal) and effect and conclude payment in the usual way.

Important: Please avoid using the back or forward buttons of your browser during the payment process. Always use the currently active application for navigation.

Reservation fees

As of January 2023, no fees will be charged for reservations.
However, any reservation fees incurred to date must be paid.

Reminder fees

Upon overrunning one or several loan period(s), you must expect to be reminded without delay.

Reminder fees:

  • 1st reminder:     € 7,50
  • 2nd reminder:   € 10,00 additional
  • 3rd reminder:    € 20,00 additional   plus € 4,10 for proof of postal delivery
  • 4th reminder:    € 50,00 additional   plus € 4,10 for proof of postal delivery

Due dates

Each reminder fee falls due for payment separately, i.e. the reminder fees of the later reminders do not include the reminder fees of the earlier reminders.

Any fees which have not been settled after 6 weeks will be dunned starting at a total of € 5.00. In such cases an additional dunning fee of € 5.00 will be debited against the fee account.

Locking of account in case of non-payment

Please note that order functions, e-media access and Internet access (in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek) will be locked automatically once your fee account has reached a debit of € 10.00. These functions can also be locked when smaller amounts remain unpaid over a longer period of time.

Pay machines

The three pay machines of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek can be used throughout the opening times of the library to settle all fees payable (reminders, reservations, etc.) either in cash or by cash card.

Fees (rent and security deposit) for lockers, transponders and reading-room booths can also be paid at the pay machines.

The cash machines are located as follows:

  • On the ground floor in the left hallway next to the main stairway (2 pay machines)
    Monday – Sunday → 08:00 – 24:00
  • On the 1st floor in the hallway to the Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books
    Monday – Friday → 09:00 – 17:00

E-mail messaging service

Provided that your e-mail address is stored in the loan system we will inform you by e-mail

  • as soon as ordered items have arrived and are ready for collection.
    The service is available only for such media which were ordered for home loan ("Ausleihe EG (Ausleihe außer Haus)"), and which can be collected in the book collection area on the ground floor.
  • when your ordered media have been available for collection for a longer period, to enable you to collect them before they are returned to the stacks.
  • about the status of the media loaned by you before the end of the loan period.
  • about reserved media which are now available for you.
  • about items ordered via interlibrary loan which have arrived for you.

If you have not yet informed us of your e-mail address, you can do so using the OPACplus. To find the corresponding input mask please log in and then select "Meine Daten" (my data) and "Benutzerdaten" (user data).

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