Photo: Consultation at the information desk at the ZBW
Photo: ZBW building in Kiel

Loan conditions

Ordering literature for local loan is possible only with a ZBW user card. There are no fees for borrowing. Overdue fines will be charged for items returned past the due date.

Availability at the loan desk

Please note at which branch items are held when ordering literature.

Kiel branch:

  • Orders from the on-site closed stacks are available after 30 – 45 minutes.
  • Usually books and volumes can be made available on the same day if they have been ordered before 17.40h.

Hamburg branch:

  • Orders from the on-site closed stacks are available after 30 minutes.
  • Usually books and volumes can be made available on the same day if they have been ordered before 18.45h.

Orders from the off-site closed stacks in Hamburg:

  • Orders from the off-site closed stacks are available at 10.00h on the day after ordering

Books ordered from the other branch:

  • If you order books from Hamburg in Kiel, they will be made available to you on the following day at 16.00h.
  • If you order books from Kiel in Hamburg, they will be made available to you on the following day at 13.00h if they have been ordered before 17.30h on the previous day.

Loan conditions

The titles you ordered will be held for you for a week. Please pick up the ordered literature within this time.

Please return the books on time, i.e. at the latest on the last day of the loan period and before closing time. If you use the book return box in Kiel after closing time on that day, overdue fines will apply.

The following loan conditions apply to all persons verifiably resident in Germany.

Tabel of loan conditions of several types of publications
Publication Loan periods
Books The loan period is 3 weeks. It can be renewed up to four times if no reservation has been made. Then the book must be presented at the loan desk and can be re-issued if desired.
Journals and newspapers Journals and newspapers will be held for you at the loan desk for one week and can be read and copied on site. If there is no reservation for them you can have them re-issued for another week.
Microfilms, microfiches, disks, CD-ROMs or media from the European Documentation Centre The loan period is one week. It can be renewed up to 4 times if no reservation has been made.

Special loan conditions for holdings in the reference collection in Hamburg

Books without marks can be lent out.

Overdue fines

Overdue fines for books returned past the due date will be charged at the following rates:

Overdue fines for books returned past the due date
Return past due date Within 7 days Within 8 – 14 days Within 15 – 21 days Within 22 – 28 days
Overdue fines per title € 1.00 € 2.50 € 5.00 € 15.00

When books that have been lend-out overnight are overdue the fine will be € 3 per day and per item.

Please take note that at the fourth stage of overdue loans the user card will be disabled and further borrowings will not be possible. The user card will also be disabled if the amount due exceeds € 25. After that a penalty payment may be imposed.

Overdue fines can only be paid in cash.

Special conditions for guests:

All persons who are not resident in Germany are considered as guests and are issued a guest user card after registration. This allows you to order literature for use in the reading rooms. The publications you order will be held at your disposal in the ZBW at the loan desk for one week. The loan period can be extended for another week if there are no reservations for these items. Please apply directly to the loan desk for this.

 
Photo: ZBW building in Hamburg

Contact

Team Loan Desk Kiel
E-mail
Tel: +49 431 8814-372 / -373

Team Loan Desk Hamburg
E-Mail
Tel: +49 40 428 34-220

Further information

Library rules

Pictures: 1, 2, 4: Sönke Wurr, Münchow-Industrie-Fotos
3: Lukas Roth