Using the Library

You are very welcome to read and study in our library! If you would like to borrow books you need a library card. For Ostfalia students this is the Ostfalia card. External users need to get a library card from us.

Loan Periods, Renewals and Fines

The regular loan period is 4 weeks. A few books marked "Kurzausleihe" are only available for 7 days. All items can be renewed online up to 5 times (unless requested by another user). Please log into your library account to renew your books.

If you do not return or renew items before the return date they will become overdue and will start to accumulate fines. We send a courtesy notice prior to the due date as well as overdue reminders by email, but the responsibility for keeping an eye on your account and returning items on time remains with the borrowers. Fines are 2 € per item for the first week an item is overdue, an added 5 € for the second and another 10 € for the third week (total of 17€).

Eduroam and VPN (Virtual Private Network)

You can access all e-books, e-journals and most databases licensed by the library if you use
- one of the library computers
- Eduroam
on your laptop
- use your VPN-client at home

Instructions on how to install the VPN-client (in German) can be found on the web pages of the Rechenzentrum. , as well as troubleshooting advice in case you have problems.

External Users

The library card for external users is 5 € for three months or 12 € for a full year (. You will need to bring your passport (ID card for EU citizens) as well as your "Meldebescheinigung" with your current address on it. You can borrow up to 10 items at a time. These can be renewed online for up to five times by logging into your library account. Enter the number on your card in the field "Benutzername". Your password is the first three letters of your last name (no capitals). If you have any questions we are happy to assist!

If you would like to photocopy or print you can borrow a card at the issue desk. You will be charged 0,10 Euro for an A4 sheet (b/w), 0,20 Euro for an A3 sheet (b/w), 0,20 Euro for an A4 sheet (colour) und 0,40 Euro for an A3 sheet (colour). We also have a book scanner which you can use free of charge. Please remember to bring a USB stick for this.