Borrowing
Circulation Desk
At the Circulation Desk you may borrow, renew or return books or Kindle readers, receive a yearly account settlement or end-of-studies settlement (so called circulation sheet, in Polish “obiegówka”) and pay your fines for overdue items (by card only).
Opening hours:
- Monday- Saturday 9 am – 9 pm,
- Sunday – closed
Attention! From 4pm, 8 November until 25 November, the Circulation Desk will be closed.
The Circulation Desk is located on level 1, on the left.
Interlibrary Loan
The Interlibrary Loan Office is located in room 137 (level 1).
Opening hours in July and August 2023:
- Monday 11 am – 6 pm
- Tuesday – Friday 9 am – 3 pm
Attention! From 4pm, 8 November until 25 November, the Interlibrary Loan Office will be closed.
Requests from other libraries:
- BUW may order books from other libraries outside of Warsaw (domestic or foreign libraries). The service is available to staff and students of the University of Warsaw. If an item is not available in any library in Warsaw – we order it from another library in Poland. If the item is not available in any Polish library – we order it from foreign libraries.
Requests for orders shall be placed via a request form only. There is a charge for interlibrary loan services stipulated in the Pricelist. To order a book or an article, please provide its exact bibliographic details:
- for books – name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s); title, year and place of publication;
- for articles – name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s); title of an article; title of a journal; publication year, volume number, issue number,
An ordered book may be accessed in the BUW Reading Room.
SUBITO – Ordering articles from periodicals (paid service)
BUW serves as a go-between in ordering articles from foreign periodicals within SUBITO portal. The service is available to UW students and research employees. The system offers access to about a million titles of scientific periodicals from multiple disciplines (about 11 million articles!). It takes up tp 72 hours to complete an order.
SUBITO Association consists of libraries from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Requests for orders shall be placed via a request form only.
To order an article, please provide its exact bibliographic details:
- name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s),
- article title,
- journal title,
- publication year, volume number, issue number,
- ISSN,
- page numbers.
Please note! Failure to provide any of the description elements may render the order impossible.
Collecting your order – A reader receives the document solely in the form of a paid print from an electronic copy. To collect the print please go to the BUW Interlibrary Loan Office.
As a rule, copies of articles are delivered to BUW by email. If for technical reasons the requested documents cannot be delivered to BUW by email, they are delivered by post. Please note! Delivering a document by post prolongs the waiting time.
The cost of the service – a fee charged by the delivering library + 23% VAT.
Lending BUW collections to other libraries:
BUW lends its own collections to other libraries in Poland and abroad for up to 30 days.
The Interlibrary Loan Office does not make copies of items from BUW collections (such requests shall be directed to the Reprographic Office).
The following materials must not be lent to other libraries:
- library materials not lent according to paragraph 6(4) of the Regulations for accessing BUW collections as well as materials indispensable for the didactic process at UW,
- library materials published in a large format.
The basic rules of interlibrary loans:
- orders are completed on the basis of an order slip submitted solely by email (1 email – 1 order),
- the costs of sending ordered library materials by post is covered by BUW, and the costs of returning by the ordering library.
More information can be obtained at the Interlibrary Loan Office (phone (48 22) 55 25 209).