Nearly 45,000 thousand volumes are placed on open shelves in the main reading room of the Library. These documents are arranged into 12 major subject groups based on the scope of the library’s collection. Publications and official documents of the special collections can be found in separate units/areas within the main reading room. The Hungarian Parliamentary Collection is located in the small reading room, which opens into the main reading room.

In the periodicals section of the reading room you can find bound volumes of the most often used Hungarian and foreign periodicals and current issues of Hungarian and foreign language journals related to law, history and political science. The current issues of some foreign daily newspapers and weeklies are also accessible in the periodicals section.

You can use the books and periodicals of the reference library simply by taking them off the shelves without submitting a request through the online catalogue.

Requesting documents from stackrooms

The library documents (for the time being only in the case of books) can be requested through the online catalogue, also available on the website of the library. Only fee-paying library members can submit requests for the items stored in stackrooms. Requests can be submitted from outside the library as well. The periodicals can be requested only on the premises by filling out printed request forms. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the requested items to arrive from the on-site stackroom.

Non-fee-paying patrons can only use the books and periodicals available on the open shelves of the reading room.

The library stocks are kept in stackrooms on the library’s premises (called on-site stackroom), and in off-site stackrooms. On-site stackrooms hold a considerable part of the core stock and the rest is retrieved on request from the off-site storage facility. Documents that are stored in off-site stackrooms are transported to the library only on certain working days. Requests for books kept in off-site stackrooms can be submitted through the online catalogue as well.

Please visit our online catalogue via our website to find out which facility the item you need is stored in.

When you finished working, please return your items at the issue and return counter in the library hall. We accept requests for reserving documents for you in case of long-term use.

Rare books and manuscripts collection

Special rules apply to the use of our rare books and manuscripts. These documents include manuscripts and prints published abroad before 1711, manuscripts and prints published in Hungary before 1851 and all Hungarica published abroad before the same date. You can read the rare books and manuscripts in the small reading room. Should you need any of such documents, please request them one day in advance. For details please contact the staff of the reference department at info(at)ogyk.hu.