• Who we are
• Executive Board
• Policies
• Philanthropy
• ZIWA News
• Picture Gallery
• Comments Form
• What's new in ZIWA
• What's on in Zürich

Discovering Zürich and Switzerland

Twenty-four things you should know about the Zürich Central Library

• The Zentralbibliothek Zürich is located at Zähringerplatz 6, near to the Predigerkirche, two minutes from tram stop Rudolf-Brun-Brücke.
• It's free to join. Just take along your identity card or Ausweis and ask at the information desk. You must be 16 or over.
• The central library is a centre for research for the city and canton of Zürich and is frequented by many students. But it also holds many fiction books.
• The library was formed from three separate libraries: the Stadtbibliothek, founded in 1629, the Kantonsbibliothek, founded in 1835 and the Universitätsbibliothek.
• The library contains over 5.2 million items: books, monographs, periodicals, manuscripts, graphic documents, maps, microforms, audio items, sheet music, newspapers and bound copies of journals.
• The library also has access to many online databases and electronic journals.
• Books less than 100 years old can be borrowed and taken home for four weeks, with an extension of eight weeks possible.
• Older books and magazines can be read in one of the reading rooms of the library.
• One copy of all books and newspapers published in the canton of Zürich is obtained by the library.
• The library has a special collection of books by local author Johanna Spyri, who wrote the Heidi stories.
• 30% of the books and journals in the library are written in English.
• You can't simply browse the books. First it's necessary to look up an item or author in the online catalogue to find the location of the item you want, then access it in one of the open access areas downstairs.
• The reference library is located upstairs and is organised by topic.
• The library employs a staff of 202 people, some part-time.
• The catalogue system comprises two networks: NEBIS and IDS. It is rather antiquated and only available in German at present.
• A card catalogue system is still in use for books over 100 years old.
• Books can be found using catalogue searches on keyword, title, subject or author.
• The Zürich central library has links with other libraries in the German-speaking cities of Switzerland including Bern, Basel and St. Gallen. Items from other libraries can be sent to Zürich via courier.
• Zürich Central Library contains some very old and rare books and journal collections which can be viewed in situ.
• When visiting the library, you will need to leave your bags in a locker in the cloakroom on the ground floor.
• Books can simply be returned to the desk on the ground floor on the left.
• An e-mail reminder will be sent when your books are due back.
• The library is open on Mondays to Fridays from 8.00 till 20.00 and on Saturdays from 9.00 till 17.00. More details on the website www.zb.uzh.ch
• If you really just want to browse books and find the latest works of fiction, visit your local district or Gemeinde library. They also have reference books, toys, DVDs, music CDs and games and are free to local residents on presentation of an identity card or pass.

Previous entry:  Partners join in the fun for final wine events of the year
Next entry:  Women in art from past to present - all revealed at intimate Rapperswil gallery