Austrian National Library
Welcome to the Austrian National Library – the country’s largest library and central memory institution.
The Austrian National Library is currently closed due to official requirements. This precaution in connection with the corona virus affects both the Library at Heldenplatz, the departments and museums. We are very pleased to inform you, that some devisions of the Austrian National Library will be able to open again soon: On Friday, May 29, the State Hall and the Literature Museum will reopen, on Wednesday, July 1, the House of Austrian History and the Papyrus, Globe and Esperanto Museum will follow. We will inform you as soon as further details – including the reading rooms and departments – are known.
In the book issue, all provision is reserved until one week after operations have resumed.
• All borrowed works are extended for the entire closing time.
• During the closing time no new reminder fees will accrue.
• Online orders are not possible during the closing time, but research in the OPAC and databases are available.
• Please do not return any books by post.
• All tours and training courses are omitted.
After reopening the library, the Austrian National Library automatically extends all currently valid annual tickets for the duration of the corona-dependent closing time free of charge. If an annual ticket has already expired or expires in the next few days, it can be extended as usual in the »Ticket Shop. A free extension until May 15 is also possible: Please write an e-mail stating your user ID to benuetzung@onb.ac.at.This service also applies to researcher annual tickets and the borrower's cards that cannot be extended in the ticket shop.
Despite the closing of the reading rooms, annual tickets entitle the user to numerous research and access options in the » Database Information System (DBIS)
After reopening the museums, the Austrian National Library extends all currently valid annual tickets for the museums automatically and free of charge for the duration of the corona-related closing time. Likewise, the validity of all Bundesmuseen Cards that were active when the Federal Museums and State Hall were closed will automatically be extended by the duration of the closing time.
All media lend for off-premises usehave been provisionally extended until May 20. If the closure lasts longer, the special authorisation for off-premises reading is automatically renewed again. Media that were made available for the reading rooms remain reserved until one week after the library has reopened.The sending of scans - for example of essays from anthologies - is possible to a limited extent and in accordance with the provisions of copyright law on the terms of the » price list. When ordering there may be longer waiting times.
The staff of the information services are happy to answer any questions: The e-mail information@onb.ac.at and the Live Chat on the homepage of the Austrian National Library are open from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
We ask for your understanding that all events until the end of June are cancelled. We will provide information on all other events on time on this website.
The current special exhibition »Beethoven. World of the Man and Spark of the Gods will be extended from May 29 to January 10, 2021 and can thus be seen in the State Hall for the entire Beethoven anniversary year. The exhibition » The Danube. A journey into the past was therefore postponed to spring 2021. The new special exhibition in the Literature Museum » Utopias and Apocalypses. The Invention of the Future in Literature will be shown from October 8, 2020 to April 25, 2021.