Services for non-local visitors

How can you prepare for your research visit to the Göttingen State and University Library?

Please inform yourself about our registration rules.

Please use GöDiscovery or the Göttingen University Catalogue (GUK) to find the items you need during your stay.

Please make sure to contact us with a list of the titles you will need at least eight work days prior to your planned visit and include the following information:

  • First and last name of the author
  • Title (short form)
  • Edition
  • Place of publication
  • Year of publication
  • Location
  • Shelf mark

Please provide your complete postal address along with your email address and telephone number so that we can contact you quickly should any issues arise.

Please note that the modern and the historical holdings of our library are available to you at different locations, which is why we would like to encourage you to get in touch with the relevant contact person. The holdings of the institutes and seminars can be accessed at their own respective libraries only. Please take note of the link to the relevant detailed information in the Göttingen University Catalogue.

What happens next?

We will prepare for your visit by issuing a guest library card in your name and by ordering the titles you need from our closed stacks to be brought to a reading room on the desired date, or by finding out whether or not they will be available during the time of your visit. The available titles will be awaiting your arrival in your designated reading room. There you will be able to scan or copy items yourself, or to use our reproduction service.

After your arrival, you are free to order further titles from our closed stacks in addition to those you have specified in advance, and we will deliver them to your designated reading room. Please note that we will require approx. two work days from the time of your order to deliver titles for your perusal.

Should we have any questions or news for you, we will of course contact you before you arrival. Please do not hesitate to contact us with your own questions.

Where will you receive the titles you ordered?

The titles you ordered will be handed out to you along with your guest library card either at the Reading Room Desk on the ground floor of the Central Library on Platz der Göttinger Sieben 1, or in one of the reading rooms located on the first floor of the Historical Building at Papendiek 14.

In some cases, we may permit the perusal of some of your titles at the Historical Building only, while others may only be available at the Central Library. We will let you know which titles you will be able to peruse at the respective locations.