Booking a working place in a reading room

In case you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via our online inquiry service.
Online inquiry service

► General Reading Room

► Periodicals Reading Room

Reservation of dates

It is required to register for each visit to a reading room.
Reservations can be made for maximally 5 dates at a time (for the General Reading Room and the Periodicals Reading Room added together) and at the most 2 weeks in advance.

There are two time slots to choose among when booking:

• General Reading Room: 8:00 – 15:00 and 16:00 – 22:00
• Periodicals Reading Room: 9:00 – 15:00 and 16:00 – 20:00
  There is only one time slot on Saturdays: 9:00 – 17:00

It is not admissible to make two bookings for the same day.

The General Reading Room and the Periodicals Reading Room are closed between 15:00 and 16:00 and the working places are cleaned (with the exception of the Periodicals Reading Room on Saturdays).

Required documents

For making a reservation, you need your reader pass or user number and your e-mail address.

Reservations are only permitted with your own personal user number. In case you do not yet have a reader pass, please go to the registration office (Anmeldestelle) on the ground floor of the library. It is still also possible to avail yourself of the simplified registration process. In case you wish to use the preliminary simplified registration procedure (online), please make sure to collect your reader pass from the registration office prior to your visit to the reading room. Your reader pass is required at the admission control points to the reading rooms for checking whether you have a valid registration.
Registration on site | Opening hours |
Preliminary simplified registration (with place of residence in Germany) |
Registration form for work and study visits (if resident abroad)

Reservation confirmation

You will receive a reservation confirmation from us by e-mail.

No Internet/no e-mail address?

In the event that you do not use an Internet access or an e-mail address, you can contact the information service on the ground floor or call the telephone inquiry service (+49 89 28638-2322 – Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 17:00) to make reservations.

Visit to the reading room

Please always present your reader pass when visiting a reading room. It is checked on the basis of the reader pass whether visitors have a valid reading-room reservation. Copies of the reader pass (in digital or paper form) are not accepted.

If possible, please avoid arriving during the times of strong visitor traffic (usually around the time of opening in the morning and at the start of the second booking time slot at 16:00), so that long waiting times and queues can be avoided.

Cancelling a booking

In the event that you cannot make use of a confirmed reservation, please cancel the booking via the link provided in the confirmation e-mail, so that the place and time slot can be made available to other interested users. It is also possible to cancel a booking after your visit, if the booked time slot has not yet expired and you no longer require the place in the reading room.

Part of the working places in the General Reading Room can also be reserved as needed by using the new app "BSB Reading Room Reservation", which is available for Android and iOS. The app can be used for individually selecting both the working place and the time and duration of your stay on the desired date. Up to five simultaneous reservations are possible in advance (reservations made via the app or via the booking calendar are added up). On site, you can then check in and check out using your smart phone and also keep your desk in the reading room reserved by using a break function.
Further information about the app "BSB Reading Room Reservation"

In case you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

• Aventinus Reading Room
  lesesaalleihe@bsb-muenchen.de
• Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books
  handschriften@bsb-muenchen.de
• Reading Room Music/ Maps/ Images
  lesesaal.mkb@bsb-muenchen.de
• East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room
  ostlesesaal@bsb-muenchen.de

► Aventinus Reading Room

► Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books

► Reading Room Music/ Maps/ Images

► East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room

Entitled group of persons

Access is granted to all scholars and researchers for their respective field of specialisation, in particular for working with literature and media which can be ordered only for provision in the respective research reading room and/or can be used exclusively there.
Please order the desired media in advance via the OPACplus in each case.

Advance registration and reservation of dates

It is required that you register in advance if you wish to visit a certain research reading room (at the latest one working day before the scheduled date and at the earliest 2 weeks in advance).
Reservations can be made for maximally 3 dates simultaneously.
The reservation is valid for the entire day in each case.

We draw the attention of visitors from abroad to the currently applicable entry regulations and to the quarantine regulations.
Information on entry restrictions and quarantine regulations in Germany

Required documents

For making a reservation, you need your reader pass or user number and your e-mail address.

Reservations are only permitted with your own personal user number. In case you wish to use the preliminary simplified registration procedure (online), please make sure to collect your reader pass from the registration office prior to your visit to the reading room. Your reader pass is required at the admission control points to the reading rooms for checking whether you have a valid registration.
Registration on site | Opening hours |
Preliminary simplified registration (with place of residence in Germany) |
Registration form for work and study visits (if resident abroad)

Researchers from abroad without registered place of residence in Germany are kindly asked to contact the reading room attending to their research visit.

Reservation confirmation

Subject to checking your advance registration with respect to the stated access criteria, you will receive a reservation confirmation from us by e-mail.

No Internet/no e-mail address?

In the event that you do not use an Internet access or an e-mail address, you can contact the information service on the ground floor or call the telephone inquiry service (+49 89 28638-2322 – Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 17:00) to make reservations.

Visit to the reading room

Please always present your reader pass when visiting a reading room. It is checked on the basis of the reader pass whether visitors have a valid reading-room reservation. Copies of the reader pass (in digital or paper form) are not accepted.

Researchers who have registered for a work and study visit and who do not have a reader pass are required to present an official identification document and documentation of their e-mail correspondence with the reading room in question.

Cancelling a booking

In the event that you cannot make use of a confirmed reservation, please cancel the booking via the link provided in the confirmation e-mail, so that the place and time slot can be made available to other interested users. It is also possible to cancel a booking after your visit, if the booked time slot has not yet expired and you no longer require the place in the reading room.

In the reopening of the reading rooms of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, health protection, in particular compliance with the applicable distancing rules, continues to have priority due to the Corona pandemic.
For this reason, the numbers of working places and of users per day have to be limited for the individual reading rooms until further notice.
The PC workstations in the reading rooms are not available for hygiene reasons.

Proof of vaccination, convalescence or testing (3G) is required for access to the building.
Please show this at the entrance without being asked.
Please note, that access to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is possible only on condition that you wear a medical mask (e.g. surgical mask). However, the face mask may be taken off at the working places in the reading rooms.

Rules of the House of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB) – Addendum during the corona pandemic (Version: 04 October 2021)