Anyone in Berlin who borrows books, movies, or games should mark October 16 on their calendar: From Friday, October 16, around 5:30 p.m., until Monday, October 19, around 8:00 a.m., the website of the Association of Berlin Public Libraries (VÖBB) will be unavailable due to maintenance work. The same applies to the associated digital services. The libraries will not have to close as a result. They can remain open with limited services, but some features will not be available over the weekend.
When and why the library portal will be taken offline
The affected online services will be unavailable for a total of approximately 62.5 hours. The reason for the outage is scheduled maintenance work at the central IT service provider for the State of Berlin. During this period, the voebb.de website and numerous associated services will be unavailable. This is therefore a scheduled technical measure and not an unexpected outage.
These library services are affected by the outage
During the maintenance work, users will be unable to access their personal library accounts or renew the loan periods for items they have checked out. Online searches in the library catalog, as well as reservations and orders via the portal, will also be temporarily unavailable. In addition, no new library cards can be issued, and existing cards cannot be renewed. Even cash and card payments will not be available during this period of limited service.
The interruption of the library network’s digital services is also particularly relevant. Normally, the VÖBB provides access to numerous e-books, audiobooks, digital newspapers and magazines, as well as streaming services for movies and music. These include services such as Onleihe, OverDrive, filmfriend, PressReader, and Freegal. Since users will not be able to log in to these services during the maintenance work, they will have to temporarily do without a large portion of the digital library services.
Berlin’s libraries will remain partially open despite the restrictions
Despite the extensive technical limitations, Berliners won’t have to do without their libraries entirely. Many facilities will remain accessible during their regular opening hours while maintenance is underway, though with significantly reduced services. Borrowing and returning books and other media will still be possible at numerous locations via self-checkout kiosks. However, in-person services such as new registrations, account inquiries, or loan period extensions at the service counters will not be available.
Which specific services remain available depends on the individual library. For example, the Neukölln City Library notes that during the outage, book checkouts at the service counters will also be unavailable. The libraries in Lichtenberg are also providing information about restrictions on Saturday, October 17, and in some cases on Sunday, October 18. Anyone planning to visit a library this weekend should therefore check the respective opening hours and available services in advance, if possible.
