How to use the library

Choose between a day or an annual ticket. You can obtain your selection online via our Ticketshop or on-site at the service desk. Access to the library is available to all persons who are at least 16 years of age.

Annual reading room ticket: EUR 30.00
One-Day reading room ticket: EUR 3.50

You can extend your annual reading room ticket online via the Ticketshop or on-site at the service desk. You will receive an e-mail reminder 28 days before your annual card expires.

Bags, laptop bags, backpacks, hats and umbrellas are to be left at the cloakroom without exception. Wearing warm (and dry) outer clothing is permitted in order to save energy in the reading rooms. Transparent bags for carrying any media or personal vallueables are available for loan in the cloakroom and can be purchased for EUR 3,50 at the service desk.

For further information: Library regulations

By obtaining an one-day or annual reading room ticket you will get your login details to order items or use electronical ressources. If you have forgotten your login details, you can reset your password via our Ticketshop. 

Most of our holdings are stored in the archives. You need to order these items via our Catalogue QuickSearch. The signature of an item – listed in the record of the item – provides you with information about the place of handover.

• You can obtain holdings with the format specifications A to C from the circulation desk opposite the Main Reading Room.
• Holdings with the format specifications D to F, as well as special holdings (Neu Sond/Neu AV) are provided at the circulation desk in the basement floor.

The ordered items will be avaible for you to pick up two hours after ordering.The Last pick-up is from Monday to Friday at 6 pm. There is no pick-up on Saturdays and Sundays. You may order a maximum of 10 volumes at each circulation desk at one time.

We offer you wireless Internet access in all reading rooms and in the entire client area. There are also Internet workstations in the client area at Heldenplatz, directly after the entrance on the right and on the lower floor. All of our reading rooms are air-conditioned to ensure a comfortable working environment

Photocopiers and scanners are available for you to use in the client areas (liable to costs). For detailed click here.

Moreover, in the communications lounge you can also find vending machines for hot and cold drinks and for snacks, as well as a drinking fountain. In addition, you also have access to the restaurant Green Door Bistro via the Reading Rooms at Heldenplatz or the Burggarten.

The Ludwig Wittgenstein Research Reading Room offers a working environment tailored specifically to the needs of scholars, hence access to it is restricted and only possible with an access authorisation. 

You may purchase an ANL researcher annual card, valid for one year, for a fee of EUR 30.00 (including 10% VAT). Applications or applications for extensions may be sent online via mail berechtigungen[at]onb.ac.at or at the servicedesk.

Criteria for the granting of a researcher annual card:

1. Completed degree (diploma, master) or a similar scientific qualification.
2. Proof of current scientific activity:

• writing a dissertation/habilitation treatise, or
• the specific intention to make a scientific publication, or
• scientific research activity to prepare a publication (proof by means of scientific publications made in the past three years), or
• work on a subsidised research project.

       3. Documents:

• Official photo ID (e.g. passport, student’s ID, employee ID).
• Proof of current scientific research (habilitation treatise, dissertation, scientific or research project, scientific publication):  Confirmation by an institute, employer or publisher, or list of publications of the applicant 

We ask for your understanding that reading places may only be used in accordance with available capacity. Holding an ANL researcher annual card does not carry the right to have a reading place in the research reading room.

For barrier-free access to the library at Heldenplatz, please use the left ramp of the entrance [Mitteltor der Neuen Hofburg]. Parking spaces for people with limited mobility are available in the short-stay parking area at Heldenplatz.

We have two separate workstations that meet the special needs of blind and visually impaired people. The workstations are situated in the Library at Heldenplatz on the lower ground floor near the Large Formats Reading Room. No reservation is needed to use them. 

If you need support prior you library visit, please contact the Department for Reference and Information Services.