University of Warsaw LibraryUniversity of Warsaw Library

Registration with the Austrian Library is possible during the opening times of BUW Circulation Desk. To register in the system you need to present a valid photo ID and a student ID in the case of UW students or a BUW library card in the case of persons from outside UW. You may obtain the BUW library card at the Circulation Desk on level 1 by paying a one-time fee of PLN 20.00. The registration is tantamount to accepting the regulations of the Austrian Library.
The opening times in July and August are adjusted to the summer opening mode of the University of Warsaw Library. Information about the changed opening times will be made available on the website in advance.

Regulations for the Use of the Austrian Library (Österreich-Bibliothek)

Chapter I
§ 1
General Provisions

1. These Regulations for the Use of the Austrian Library, hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”, set out the rules governing the use of the collections of the Austrian Library, which is located within the University of Warsaw Library, hereinafter referred to as “BUW”.
2. The Austrian Library collects literature relating to Austria. The development of its collection and the acquisition of new materials are the responsibility of the Austrian Library and are financed directly by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten).
3. The collections of the Austrian Library are not the property of the University of Warsaw Library but are made available on the Library’s premises.

Chapter II
§ 2
Rules for the Use of the Collections

1. The collections of the Austrian Library are available to holders of valid BUW library cards who have accepted the Regulations for Accessing BUW Collections.
2. The following users are entitled to borrow materials from the Austrian Library:

a) members of the University of Warsaw community – in accordance with their borrowing privileges at the University Library;

b) users who are not members of the University of Warsaw community – up to three volumes for a loan period of 30 days.

3. The Austrian Library collection is available for on-site use during the University Library’s opening hours. The circulation desk is open during the hours specified on the website.
The loan period may be renewed in accordance with the borrower’s borrowing privileges at BUW.

Chapter III
Obligations and Responsibilities of Users
§ 3

1. Users of the Austrian Library are required to comply with the Regulations for Accessing BUW Collections as well as the Rules of Conduct of the University of Warsaw Library.
2. Users are required to return borrowed books by the due date. Failure to do so will result in the suspension of the user’s library account and the imposition of a fee in accordance with the University Library Schedule of Fees.
3. Users are responsible for any damage to or loss of materials used on the premises or borrowed from the Austrian Library. Any damage to or loss of an item must be reported immediately to a member of the Austrian Library staff, who will initiate the procedure for assessing the value of the item or arranging for its replacement.
4. Fees for overdue, damaged, or lost items must be paid by bank transfer to the University of Warsaw account:

University of Warsaw
Bank Millennium S.A.
Account No.: 69 1160 2202 0000 0000 6085 0087

Payment reference: “Fee for overdue Austrian Library books at the University of Warsaw Library”.

5. If borrowed materials are not returned by the due date, the Austrian Library may request the University of Warsaw Library to suspend the user’s borrowing privileges until all outstanding items have been returned.

6. Any user who violates these Regulations for the Use of the Austrian Library may have their borrowing privileges with respect to the Austrian Library collections revoked.

The Austrian Library in Warsaw is the biggest library of 65 Austrian libraries located around the world. The beginnings of the Austrian Library collection date back to the 1960s. In 1965 the Austrian Cultural Institute was set up in Warsaw, the first Western European cultural centre created behind the Iron Curtain. Along with the Institute a book collection appeared, whose items were not lent initially, and it has grown ever since. The Institute became the flagship of Austria and a window to the world for the Polish intellectuals in the People’s Republic of Poland. Discussions and meetings in the Austrian Reading Room connected the East and West of Europe, culture and art of Poland and Austria. In the Reading Room, the Institute provided books on philosophy, sociology and history, practically unavailable anywhere else. It also provided books to the collections of the Jagiellonian Library and the Main Library of KUL. From the library operating at the Institute books in German could be borrowed home.
In 2002 pursuant to the agreement, the collections from the Library of the Austrian Cultural Institute go to Dobra Street, to BUW. A new autonomous unit is created, called the Austrian Library in Warsaw, operating within the structure of the University of Warsaw Library. The agreement meant that the Austrian Library became incorporated into the international network of Austrian Libraries in the world. The first such institution outside of Austria was founded at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow in 1986. The collection was financed by the Austrian side, and the Jagiellonian Library bore the cost of the premises, equipment and personnel. This model of cooperation was also implemented in Warsaw. Since the 1980s, the network of Austrian Libraries in the world has grown to more than sixty branches in twenty-eight countries, mainly in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. At present, in Poland, apart from Warsaw and Cracow, there are four other Austrian Libraries in Opole, Poznań, Wrocław and Rzeszów. Supported by the Austrian government, they cooperate with local institutions, universities and libraries, and try to broaden people’s knowledge about the inhabitants of Austria, its culture and history.

Readers may access over 16 thousand books from various areas, ranging from literature, literary studies and history, through politics and geography to philosophy, psychology and culture. Here the reader will find albums with art and architecture, learn about well- or lesser-known Austrian composers and painters. However, fiction and literature act as the library’s substantive focus. The library regularly purchases the latest publications from the German-language publishing market. The collection of the Austrian Library is available in an analogue version in the form of a card catalogue and in the electronic version in the form of the catalogue online.
Readers may also access current newspapers, specialist journals and periodicals dedicated to literature, politics, culture and history.
The Austrian Library is the co-organizer of author’s evenings, book presentations, lectures and exhibitions that take place at the premises of the University of Warsaw Library.
Since 1 April 2014 the Austrian Library has had it its page on Facebook.
The access to the collection is free of charge.