The VU library is an open and flexible space for study and research, where every student or teacher will find information resources that meet their needs and a comfortable workplace. The Central Library welcomes its visitors in the 16th century premises which, together with all university buildings and courtyards, form a unified architectural ensemble of Vilnius Old Town, visited daily not only by members of the university community, but also by tourists from all over the world. Another branch of the library in Saulėtekis is open 24 hours a day – the Scientific Communication and Information Center (MKIC) with its modern environment and operating 7 days a week. Library services are also provided in the reading rooms of faculties and centers in Vilnius and other cities – at the VU Faculty of Kaunas, in the Information Center of the Šiauliai Academy. All information about the VU library can be found on the VU library website at https://biblioteka.vu.lt/en/.

We invite you to take advantage of the opportunity to consult with a friendly librarian who supervises a specific field of science or to reserve time for consultation or information literacy training.

In the subject librarians section of the library’s website, you will find professionally selected sources of reliable and high-quality scientific information, as well as the contacts of your department’s subject librarian.

Search for the publications you need for your studies in the virtual library.

  1. Search by entering keywords in the search field.
  2. When you find the publication you need, check in which reading room it is stored – click on the title of the publication and view the “Locations and orders” section.
  3. Note the code of the book, which is given next to the name of the reading room. The code will be needed to find the publication in the specified reading room.
  4. In the reading room, search for the publication by the book code, which is indicated on the shelf. First, find the section you need by the given code number, and then search the section alphabetically. If you cannot find the required publication, a member of the reading room or information desk will be happy to help you.

In the Central Library, MKIC and Medicine and Geosciences Reading Room, book borrowing works on a self-service basis. You can borrow publications marked with green stickers to take home using the self-service machines.

You can check which publications you have currently borrowed and when you have to return them by logging in to your virtual library account or in the library’s mobile application.

More information can be found on the library’s website in the section Borrowing publications.

VU Library provides the possibility to use more than 300,000 e-documents that can be read from the comfort of your home.

One of the most important sources used by researchers and students are research databases (DB), where scientific output, e-journals, books, research, statistical data, video and other material is published and stored.

The most relevant databases and other e-resources, sorted by science field, are provided in your faculty subject librarian’s webpage.

Attention! If you wish to access the database services at home, you need to connect your PC to VU network via VU VPN service. If you wish to access the database services in VU Library, faculty or dormitory, no separate log in is needed.

Do you wish to learn to prepare successful theses?

VU Library organises training, during which students can learn to find and select trustworthy scientific information for their studies and theses, familiarise themselves with the requirements of academic ethics, learn the proper way to cite other authors and sources used, and study information management software that would allow them to access the collected information with just a few clicks.

Information on the training sessions will be posted on the library website’s news section – or you can ask your faculty’s subject librarian.

In the library, everyone can find a workspace that suits their needs: quiet workplaces in the reading rooms, rooms for individual and group work, IT laboratories and informal communication or lounge spaces.

VU community members can book rooms for individual and group work in the library booking system. Rooms for individual work are reserved for a period no longer than 7 days, while rooms for group work – for a period from 1 to 24 hours. A reserved workplace can be used after receiving a letter of confirmation. The rooms are booked free of charge.

VU community members may use the computers in the reading rooms. If you wish to use a computer, log in with your VU ID login information.

The library provides access to EDUROAM wireless network. Instructions on how to connect to EDUROAM, can be found in Information Technology Service Centre website.

After installing the mobile app of VU Library, you will be able to:

  • Perform book search in an easy and convenient way;
  • Check the list of borrowed publications and renew the due date;
  • See your fines;
  • Receive automatic updates about books and other documents that are due;
  • Use your e-shelf, which stores borrowed, ordered and saved publications;
  • Receive information about changes in the working time of the reading rooms, events and other news relevant to users that are regularly published in the website.

You can install the app by clicking one of the links below:
Android: https://bit.ly/3vrSXTZ
iOS: https://apple.co/3u5Lslb

Digital Collections

Thousands of printed and manuscript texts, maps, art objects are freely available in VU Library’s Digital Collections website. It provides the opportunity to browse and search for digitized documents from the rare books, manuscripts, graphics or photography collections, dedicated for studies, research and cultural education.

Virtual exhibitions

The heritage collections of VU Library can be seen remotely, as well. When visiting virtual exhibitions, you will have the opportunity to not only see the unique documents but also listen to unexpected sounds or even take a walk around one of the most magnificent halls of VU Library: https://biblioteka.vu.lt/en/resources/virtual-exhibitions.

Rare Books

Rare Books Division contains about 160,000 collected documents mainly in the 15th-21st century chronological interval. It is the largest depository of old prints in Lithuania whose stacks and significance rival those of the most famous libraries of Eastern Europe.

More information can be found at https://biblioteka.vu.lt/en/resources/rare-books

Manuscripts

Manuscripts Division stores 338,957 various documents in Lithuanian, Latin, Polish, Chancery Slavonic, Russian, German, English, Hebrew and other languages from between the 13th and 21st centuries. They are divided into 336 archival stacks of greater or lesser volume.

More information can be found at https://biblioteka.vu.lt/en/resources/manuscripts

Motivated and industrious students have the opportunity to have their professional traineeship in VU Library. Professional knowledge can be gained by people from many different fields – librarianship, archiving, heritage preservation, philology, journalism, communication or information sciences. If you wish to have your traineeship in VU Library, email us at [email protected].

Vilnius University Library, together with all the other buildings and courtyards of the old university, makes up a harmonious, impressive and inimitable architectural ensemble of Vilnius Old Town. If you wish to know more, you can book a tour here.

Library’s working hours can be found here.

Information to users is provided via phone: (+370 5) 219 5051

E-mail: [email protected]

Library website: https://biblioteka.vu.lt/en