At Your Service Again – “Adjusted Normal Operations” at the Central Library from 25 May

After the long period of basic operations mode, we are reopening and looking forward to welcoming you back to the Central Library. Please note that we have adapted our use concepts for adjusted normal operations.

Reading room and stacks opening with safety restrictions and hygiene measures
Other rooms in the Central Library subject to restrictions
Literature requests operating almost the same as during normal operations
ZB training courses and consultations being carried out online
Your contacts at ZB


25 May 2021

The reading room, along with the information desk and the stacks, are to be reopened in compliance with the appropriate regulations. Our portals and digital services will be available as usual. To access our range of electronic media such as books, journals, as well as literature and fact databases from outside the campus, a VPN connection is required. Limited external access is possible via Shibboleth.


Reading room and stacks opening with safety restrictions and hygiene measures

Abstand halten – Mund-Nase-Bedeckung
  • Opening hours: We are available for Jülich's employees from 08:00 to 17:00. You can also leave the reading room after 17:00 via the night exit. It is still not possible to gain access to the reading room at night or at weekends. We also recommend using our reading garden as a place to work when the weather is good.
  • Minimum distance and masks: Please keep a minimum distance of 2 metres from other people in the Central Library and use a medical mask or FFP2 mask.
  • Number of visitors: If the necessary distance is maintained and requirements are met, 35 people can use the reading room at the same time, with 22 of them working at the designated workspaces. A maximum of 10 people are allowed in the stacks at any one time.
  • Disinfection: Please use the disinfectant dispenser to disinfect your hands.
  • Visitor registration: Please enter your contact details (name, institute) and the time you entered the reading room in our logbook if you are staying for longer to work there. Please use your own pen when entering your details. The pencils that we have provided should only be used by one person. Therefore, please take the pencil with you after you have entered your details.
  • Borrowing and returning books: Books can be borrowed directly from the information desk again. It is simplest both for you and for us if you return the media you have borrowed by internal mail. If you would like to return the books you have borrowed in person in the reading room, please place them on the designated mobile shelving unit next to the entrance to the reading room or hand them over to our colleagues at the information desk.


Other rooms in the Central Library subject to restrictions

Under the changed conditions, we are reopening our ZB meeting rooms. The individual use concepts and room plans can be found on our intranet pages.
Intranet (ZB)

  • The lecture theatre can be used for meetings of up to 61 people.
  • Conference room 338 can be used for meetings of up to 13 people.
  • Seminar room 301 can be used for meetings of up to 6 people.
  • Meeting rooms 210 and 327 can be used for meetings of up to 3 people.
  • The “gegenüber” students’ lounge will remain closed until further notice.


Literature requests operating almost the same as during normal operations

We are carrying out the same amount of literature requests, interlibrary loans, and scanning requests for you as usual. In individual cases, there may still be delays.
Borrowing books from institute libraries and collections depends on the regulations in the respective institutes. We are accepting your borrowing requests and will carry them out with the institute collections if possible.
We will send your requested literature by email or internal mail to your workspace. Please only request books to be sent to your workspace if you are certain that your institute is able to receive them.
Literature Request


ZB training courses and consultations being carried out online

During adjusted normal operations mode, we will generally be carrying out our training courses as web conferences or webinars. The technology we will use for this will be Jülich’s BigBlueButton. Please register for the training courses with our colleagues in the reading room. We will send you the login details by email.
Intranet (ZB) – Training courses at the Central Library
Registration for ZB training courses: ZB-Auskunft

The following consultations and services are available for you to use:

  • General information and advice
  • Support for scientific publishing and advice regarding open access
  • Support and advice for research data management
  • Language Services
  • Bibliometric analyses


Your contacts at ZB

Your usual contacts can be reached by email.
Contact us to arrange a consultation over the phone, via BigBlueButton web conference, or by email.
Internet (ZB) – Members of staff

We are available for you in the reading room from 08:00 to 17:00.
Email: ZB-Auskunft
Tel: 02461 61-6110
ZB Contact Box

Last Modified: 15.03.2022