Library guide History: Where can you find books in the Central Library?

​You can find all books in the Central Library via RUQuest.
Your campus card is your library card.
Books are located at different locations in the building:

• De Verdieping (Open Stacks) – Here you will find the Humanities collection.
  You can pick up the books in the open stacks yourself,
  borrow them using the lending machine.
• Closed stacks – Books on all fields of study.
  Request books via RUQuest, borrow them using the lending machine.
• Reading Room – Here you can find reference works.
  Pick up the books in the stacks yourself, these books can’t be borrowed.
• Special Collections Reading Room – Here you can read old and rare books.
  Request books via RUQuest, these books can’t be borrowed.

These quick reference guides (pdf) show the global shelving order of all parts of the collection in the Open Stacks. The books are placed according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC).

Please note: the book collection in the Open Stacks is the collection of the Humanities,  and partly Management sciences and Social sciences. Although the LCC classification covers all subject areas, for some subject areas the majority of the books is in a different library location, such as Science, Law, and Medical Sciences.

In the basement of the Central Library (in De Verdieping), the books of the Humanties collections are in Open Stacks. These books are placed according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC). Would you like to learn more about how LCC works, and how to find a book in the Open Stacks?

    E-learning module LCC: Collectie classification Open Stacks
 

In the University Library, you can not only borrow books, study (together) and relax; there are more facilities. Learn more in the virtual tour.
The video is in Dutch, with English subtitles.

In the Central Library’s closed stacks are books in all fields of study, journals and newspapers. You can request these materials via RUQuest.

You can pick up requested works from the pick-up shelves, to the left of the Service Desk (when you select pick-up location Central Library). Publications which are requested before 4 p.m. will be available the same day. You receive an e-mail when the publication you requested can be picked up.

You can borrow books using the book lending machine, and return them at the book return machine. Please note: journals and newspapers can’t be borrowed.

More information about borrowing 

In the Reading Room are reference works in various fields of study. You can find these reference works in RUQuest; they have a place code that starts with Lz. Reference works can’t be borrowed.

The collection in the Reading Room is classified according to the Nederlandse Basisclassificatie (Dutch Basic Classification). There is a sign on one of the bookcases opposite the entrance to the Reading Room with a map and the main classes. Or check the main classes on Wikipedia (in Dutch).

All special books and journals up to 1900 can be read in the Special Collections Reading Room. These materials are in the closed stacks, and can be requested via RUQuest. If you need help requesting these publications, please go to the desk of the Special Collections Reading Room.

You’ll find this room in the left corner of the Reading Room, in the Central Library.

Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More information about Special Collections