Study Places

The library is a favourite place to study and work. We want to support you in your individual way of working with various services.

To study for an exam or prepare a presentation, the University Library offers 76 research workstations and 1,100 study places in the open stacks.

Would you like to study in a team? Book one of the various group study rooms.

Book a room

You can get an overview of our premises in our digital guidance system in 3D or 2D view.

Study places  

 

Numerous study areas are available to all users on floors 1 to 5. The research workstations (staircase) are equipped with PCs. The BringYourOwnDevice (BYOD) workstations are located in the open stacks. The open stacks are silent work zones. Conversations, group work and the use of mobile phones are not permitted here. You are welcome to talk to each other in the staircase, where a certain noise level is tolerated.

All members of the RUB and other universities with Eduroam access can use the Internet at their study places with their laptop.

The university library also has other study and work areas:

Doctoral student workplaces with long-term lockers

 

Special workplaces in combination with a long-term locker (level 3/1 and 3/2) can be booked for 6 months for writing a doctoral thesis, state examination or master's thesis. Only RUB students can obtain a doctoral student workstation. A total of 20 places are available. Please enquire at the information/service desk and bring written confirmation from your supervisor with you when booking.

 

 

Group study rooms

Level 0

 

On level 0 there are two group study rooms (rooms 03 and 08) with different learning areas, which you can book individually. The learning areas are set up for groups of 5 to 7 people. In some cases, a large wall-mounted flat screen can be used.

Level 1

There are six group work rooms on level 1, three of the group rooms are connected to the learning landscape. Rooms 1 and 2 are suitable for larger groups of 10 to 12 people. A flipchart is available in room 1, suitable pens can be borrowed from the information/service desk for a deposit. The other rooms (rooms 3 and 30, 31 and 32) are set up for 4 to 5 people. In rooms 30 to 32, a large wall-mounted flat screen can be used for group work.

Book a room

 

 

Height-adjustable desks and workstations with special equipment

In the Bochum University Library you will find a number of height-adjustable desks as well as other workstations with special equipment.

Level 0

  • Vocatex in the closed reading room (font enlargement and reading aloud in over 30 languages)
  • 2 height-adjustable tables in group study room no. 7 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
  • 2 height-adjustable tables in group study room no. 8/ DH Space (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)

Level 1

  • 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 1 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
  • 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 9 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
  • 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 31 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
  • 2 height-adjustable tables in area 2 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)

Level 2

  • 4 height-adjustable desks in area 2 (min. height: 72, max. height: 105)
  • 2 of the height-adjustable workstations in area 2 equipped with a camera
  • 1 workstation for people with impaired vision in area 2
Closed reading room for protected holdings

In this reading area (level 0, next to the information/service desk) you can work with media that are subject to usage restrictions:

  • Protected holdings of the University Library.
  • Media supplied via interlibrary loan that may only be used in the reading area.
  • Microfilms and microfiches owned by the University Library.
  • Non-network-compatible data carriers that may not be borrowed.

A deposit, for example your student ID, will be retained when you use the media.

This reading area is a silent work zone. Conversations, group work and the use of mobile phones are not permitted. Because old and valuable books are used here, it is not permitted to bring food and drinks (including water) into the reading area.

Legal reading room on level 3 / area 3

 

The most important working materials for lawyers, such as current textbooks, commentaries and handbooks as well as selected journals, are available in the legal reading room. The holdings of the Legal Reading Room cannot be borrowed, but additional copies of many titles are available for loan. Please use the RUB Primo catalogue to determine the location of the books.

The CIP pool is also located in this area.

Learning landscape on level 1 / area 2

  • 75 individual workplaces
  • 8 carrels
  • Lounge chairs and sofas
  • Sockets (floor sockets for the sofa seats and table sockets)
  • Long-term lockers
Reading room on level 2 / area 2

   

  • 121 individual workplaces
  • Places for wheelchair users
    • 2 of them height-adjustable
    • one of them additionally as a place for people with visual impairment
  • Power sockets and laptop safety bars
  • Long-term lockers
Reading room on level 3 / area 2

 

  • 98 individual workplaces
  • 12 Doctoral student workplaces with integrated locker
  • Sockets and laptop safety bracket
  • LAN sockets
  • Long-term lockers
Reading room on level 4 / area 4

Schreibcafé on level 0

The Schreibcafé (writing café) is a freely accessible place for students to learn, read and write together. It is supervised by the Writing Centre's (Schreibzentrum) writing tutors and is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. The writing tutors provide support in all matters relating to writing texts.

Newspaper reading area on level 0

The current issues of the newspapers are available in the newspaper reading area.

Current issues of "Der Spiegel" are kept at the information/service desk and can be used for a deposit.