Göttingen State and University Library regularly takes one of the top positions in the categories "Offers", "Use" and "Development" of the national library ranking BIX (category "two-tier university libraries" – i.e., library facilities comprising a number of libraries). The Library Index BIX is maintained by the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband (dbv) and the Hochschulbibliothekszentrum des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (HBZ) as part of the Kompetenznetzwerk für Bibliotheken (KNB). It was first published in 2000 and is regarded as the benchmark standard for library ranking in Germany.

In 2008, Göttingen State and University Library received the title "Landmark of Ideas". It was one of the winners of a nationwide competition for the event series "365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas". The award recognised the many activities of the Göttingen State and University Library as a competence centre for the Digital Library. The competition "365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas" is a project of the initiative "Germany - Land of Ideas".

In 2002, Göttingen State and University Library received the Library of the Year award. This only German national library award is awarded annually by the Deutscher Bibliotheksverband (dbv) and the ZEIT-Stifung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius. The award presenters specifically acknowledged "the inspiring and exemplary cooperative collaboration to improve the efficiency of German libraries, the successful involvement in international projects, and the outstanding achievement to interlink our historical heritage and modern technology in such an innovative way as to create multimedia services for users".