Borrowing, returning and renewing items

How many items can I borrow and how long for? Is it possible to renew loans? Where can I return borrowed items? Learn more about borrowing, returning and renewing items.

Available	The item is in its place.
Bookbinder	The medium is currently at the bookbinder's. In urgent cases, please contact erwerbung(at)ulb.hhu.de for more information on availability.
Collection maintenance	The item is currently being repaired. If there is no other copy available at a Düsseldorf library, an interlibrary loan request can be placed.
Conditionally loanable	Location Law Library/Textbook Collection: The item can only be borrowed by members of HHU, Düsseldorf Business School and University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf. Location Library of the Department of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine: The medium can be borrowed by anyone holding a valid library card/HHU card, provided it is not required by the Institute for current research.
Course collection	The item is part of a course collection that was set up for the current semester at the request of a lecturer. It is freely accessible inside the library, but cannot be loaned. Reservation is not possible.
In-house collection	The item may only be used in the library.
In process	The item is available in the library, but is still being processed. In urgent cases, please contact erwerbung(at)ulb.hhu.de to find out when it will be available.
In transit	The item is on its way to another location within ULB.
Loan collection	The item is available for loan.
Loan collection (with date)	The item is on loan even if the specified date has already passed; a reservation is possible if all loanable copies are borrowed.
Missing	The item cannot be found at present. If there is no other copy available at a Düsseldorf library, an interlibrary loan request can be placed.
Not usable	The item is currently not available. If there is no other copy available at a Düsseldorf library, an interlibrary loan request can be placed.
Ordered	The item has been ordered by the library but has not yet arrived.
Quick reference collection	The item is permanently on loan for official purposes. Consultation is possible. For contact and location information write to auskunft(at)ulb.hhu.de. If there is no other copy of the work available at a Düsseldorf library, an interlibrary loan request can be placed.
Reservation(s)	... hold requests have already been placed.
Reserved	The item is ready for collection for a specific person.
Unavailable	The item is currently not available. It may be on loan or reserved for someone else. Also, it may be at the bookbinder‘s, ordered from the book shop or simply in process. In most cases, you can make a reservation.

You’ll need a valid HHU Card or library card to borrow items.
Please take books from the open access areas and the textbook collections from the shelves yourself and check them out by using the self-lending machines on the ground floor.
Books stored in closed stacks must be requested in advance via the ULB catalogue (closed stack requests)

As a rule, reference works and particularly valuable media that are difficult to replace and/or require special protection (e.g. all titles published up to 1920) are not available for loan. These items are marked as ”In-house collection” in the ULB catalogue. The words “Nicht ausleihbar” (“Not available for loan”) have moreover been stamped on the inside of the book cover or a red dot added to the book’s spine.
Magazines and newspapers cannot be borrowed.
Works from the textbook collection of the Law Library can only be borrowed by members of HHU.

Detailed information on the lending restrictions can be found in the user regulations section 10. The ULB user regulations are currently being revised.

The standard loan period is 28 days. Students and other patrons are able to extend this loan period by a maximum of 180 days (provided items have not been reserved). For scientific HHU staff, loans are automatically extended up to a maximum loan period of 336 days (provided items have not been reserved).
A maximum of 50 items can be borrowed per account.
Important: Fines apply (Säumnisgebühren) for overdue loans.
Fines can be paid at the pay station during the library opening times: you’ll need your library card and can then pay the fine in cash or by EC card. HHU students also have the option of using their HHU card to pay.
For items delivered via interlibrary loan, the loan period is usually 42 calendar days, calculated from the date of arrival at ULB Düsseldorf. In individual cases, the loan period may be limited to one week. Interlibrary loans cannot be renewed!
For an overview of your borrowed items including details on the loan period, see your library account in the ULB catalogue.

The loan period of borrowed items can be extended if:

the item has not been reserved,
the maximum loan period of 140 days has not yet been reached,
the fines on your account do not exceed €40.

Media must be renewed via your library account in the ULB catalogue. Please use your uni ID or your library card E-number to log in. You can extend the loan periods for your borrowed items in your account under the “Your Checked Out Items” tab.

Important: The loan period is extended by 28 days on the day that you renew the item. This means that if you already renew an item one day after you borrowed it, the loan period will only be extended by one day.

You can return borrowed items during the library opening times to the return machines in the Central Library foyer and the Medical Library (4th floor).
When you return items, they will be removed from your library account and you’ll receive a return receipt.
Alternatively, you can use the book return boxes located in the O.A.S.E. foyer, outside the Law Library and in the foyer of building 23.21. Please note:
- The person who borrows an item is always responsible for its return.
- In deviation from the Regulations of Use, you won’t receive a return receipt.
- Ensure that loose inserts and suchlike cannot fall out.
- Loans will only be deleted from your library account on the next working day, so you may incur fines if loans are then overdue!
- Please return interlibrary loans via the return machine (green flag) or at the Central Service Desk on the ground floor of the Central Library (red flag).

HHU staff may request items from the in-house collections from the Law Library and Science Library for loan and collection. Official loans from the Law Library are also possible without pre-ordering during service hours.

How does it work?

You can request up to five items per order via email for official loan.
Please email team-phil-gw-nw(at)ulb.hhu.de to request holdings from the Science Library.
Please email team-fb-rechtswissenschaft(at)ulb.hhu.de to request holdings from the Law Library.
When ordering, please provide your library card number (letter “N” + numerical code) as well as the call number and barcode number for each individual title. You’ll find the barcode number in the item details in the ULB catalogue.

We’ll notify you via email as soon as your order is ready for collection during the opening times of the respective library location. Please bring your library card to add the requested items to your account. They will be held for you for 7 calendar days. Please also note that for organisational reasons, the loan period of 28 days begins on the day that the item is first made available.
Please return offical loans media to the respective library location. Holdings of the Law Library may also be returned via the book return box in the foyer.