Online Interlibrary Loan provides a comfortable and independent way of ordering literature which is catalogued either in the Gemeinsamer Verbundkatalog (GVK) or in one of the other German union catalogues and can be ordered online.
You need a GBV interlibrary loan account if you want to use this service. If necessary, we would set up a free account for you. If you need such an account, please send an email with your library card number to fernleihkonto@sbb.spk-berlin.de.
You will receice a return email with your login details for the Online Interlibrary Loan system and more information.

FAQs on how to request items can be found here – you are also welcome to get relevant information at one of the library’s information desks.

In your personal GBV interlibrary account you have the possibility to check the status of your online interlibrary loan request at any time. If one of your requests is rejected by the system, please contact us directly. In many cases we are able to successfully help you with your online request.

Via the online Interlibrary Loan Form you can request every publication – books, journals, articles – even if there is no bibliographic entry in an online catalogue. When we receive your request in our system, we will search for your desired item in other libraries in Germany and if necessary abroad and will then order the item for you.  

The interlibrary loan form should primarily be used for requests from abroad and for requests which could not be fulfilled via the Online Interlibrary Loan system.

For using this service, please register on the relevant webpage Interlibrary Loan Form with the details of your library account and choose between the options book or article. Then fill in the form with the necessary details.

If you request multi-volume works or several journal volumes, please observe that one form is necessary for every single volume.

If a request cannot be fulfilled, we will inform you accordingly.

The legal basis for interlibrary loan: 1) lending regulations of the Leihverkehrsordnung (LVO) issued by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany and 2) the Act on Copyright and Related Rights (UrhWissG).

• Borrowable items (books, journals, microform material)
• Copies of single articles published in specialist or scientific journals
• Copies of parts of a book (according to § 60e, Par. 5 UrhWissG not more than 10% of the whole work)

• E-Books
• Articles from newspapers and so-called kiosk magazines published later than 1920
• Journal volumes published recently
• Large format newspaper volumes
• Loose leaf publications (Copies of single articles are possible)
• Audiovisual materials (possible in exceptional cases, please contact us)
• Popular fiction and hobby literature (cookbooks, travel guides, etc.)
• Unpublished diploma, master and examination theses (possible in exceptional cases, please contact us)
• Works which are available in the book trade for a small price (ca. 15 EUR)
• Older literature which is especially worthy of protection, published before 1800 (in many cases it is possible to digitise the item – paid service)
• New publications or works which are still in the library’s acquisition process

For every interlibrary loan request, the charge is 1.50 EUR. It has to be paid, even if the request is unsuccessful.
For all interlibrary loan requests from libraries in Germany as well as for article copies of up to 20 pages there will be no further charges.
If you request article copies of more than 20 pages and in case of requests from libraries from outside Germany increased charges will apply. Please note: when using the interlibrary loan form, the automatic maximum is at 8 EUR for articles. The library will only contact you if the costs are higher than 8 EUR. We will inform you in advance about charges for interlibrary loan requests from libraries outside Germany, in case you have not indicated a cost limit when you placed the request.

If the desired literature is not held by a library in the Federal Republic of Germany or is not available for lending, we request the item via the international interlibrary loan service. In addition to the standard processing fee you will have to pay further fees charged by the lending library. For international interlibrary loans there there are no uniform fees. In order to avoid further queries, please indicate your cost limit already on the interlibrary loan form. We always try to find the most inexpensive delivery option.

As a rule, items which you request via the interlibrary loan service can be delivered within 14 days. Copies of articles are mainly supplied as PDF files. The delivery time of requested items coming from libraries outside Germany may amount to one month.

After their arrival your interlibrary loan items will appear in your library account. While ordering, please decide, where you would like to use the media: either site Potsdamer Straße, Book Collection Area for external use or use in the reading room at site Potsdamer Straße or site Unter den Linden. Please note that your request may not always be accommodated, as we must adhere to the guidelines of the owning libraries.

Copied articles from journals or books are usually delivered electronically. The notification e-mail contains a link for downloading the PDF file which is valid for 14 days.
Copies from abroad or from individual specialised academic libraries will continue to be provided as paper copy.

We will send you an email when the item is ready to be collected.
Please note: A notification is only possible when you have registered your email address in your library account.

Volumes/copies are available for you in the following areas according to your library card number (last two digits):

• Reading room loans, Unter den Linden, Atlantis (on the 2nd floor)
• Reading Room Potsdamer Straße, hold shelf for interlibrary loan (Fernleihe), next to the information (on the 2nd floor) 
• Haus Potsdamer Straße, Book Collection Area, for external use (Foyer)

Please return borrowed items during service hours at the Lending Desk, Haus Potsdamer Straße, or the Information & Service Desk, Haus Unter den Linden. 

Apart from an interlibrary loan, you can order books for home delivery independently of the Staatsbibliothek's service via the direct delivery service subito, which is subject to a charge and offers short delivery times.

Another alternative to interlibrary loan, especially regarding recent publications, could be: suggesting a book or other resources for our library.

You find the data protection declaration for the interlibrary loan service here.