Dear library users! Kindly reminding you that to prevent the spread of the virus, please come to the library only when you feel well, keep your distance from others, and wash and disinfect your hands.
Here is the list of our services that can be used via the Internet, or contact-free in the library:
On Friday, 28 August, the University of Tartu Library and the University of Tartu Art Museum will jointly celebrate the 250th birthday of Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern, the founder of both the Art Museum and the Library of the University of Tartu, the professor of rhetoric, classical philology, aesthetics and history of literature and art.
This day, the restored monument to Karl Morgenstern will be opened on Toomemägi, and free tours will take people to places related with Morgenstern’s life and work. A memorial ceremony will be held at the Raadi Cemetery.
Dear readers!
Just to a kind reminder that we can help to prevent the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 from spreading if we:
1. Stay at home when being ill or not feeling well.
2. Wash and disinfect hands.
3. Keep a safe, 2x2 m distance.
Protect yourself and all the others!
Opening hours of UT Library in summer:
The 3rd floor reading rooms and open stacks are again open from Monday, 1 June. Until 28 June the library will be open at regular opening hours.
To borrow books picked up from these areas, the readers should use the self-checkers or go to the 2nd or 3rd floor service points. If the reader cannot/do not want to go to the open stacks at the moment, the library service staff will exceptionally bring books out for you if they are requested via the e-catalogue ESTER.
Dear readers!
On Sunday, 31 May the UT Library is closed due to the national holiday.
Starting from 25 May, the second hall reading room of the UT Library will again be open from Monday to Friday from 9-21, and on Saturday 12-18. On Sunday, 31 May the library is closed due to the public holiday. The reading room of manuscripts and rare books is open from Monday until Friday 10-19, on Saturday 12-18.
Information about borrowing books from 25 to 31 May:
UT Library opens the 2nd floor reading rooms for the students on Monday, 18 May to offer a pleasant learning environment. The desks are placed according to the 2+2 rule and other safety requirements. As a result, 100 students can study in this area. Online number of the visitors in the library can be seen on the library's webpage.
Information Technology Foundation for Education (ITFE) announced the recipients of the e-course quality label in 2020; among others, this acknowledgement was awarded to the online course “Research Data Management and Publication”, created by the UT Library and the UT Natural History Museum. The e-course was authored by Tiiu Tarkpea from the UT Library and Urmas Kõljalg, Allar Zirk and Veljo Runnel from the Natural History Museum.
UT Library will remain closed until the end of the emergency situation in Estonia. Starting from 4 May, library users can enter the lobby to pick up their requested books and to return books from Monday to Friday 12-18.
Dear readers!
On Friday, May 1 the library is closed and the requested books cannot be picked up.
Happy May Day!
University of Tartu Library is asking students, researchers and lecturers to suggest which books and learning materials, written by Estonian authors, should be digitised in the first order. Digitisation will be carried out under the four-year-long European project EODOPEN, aiming at making 15 000 texts from the 20th and 21st centuries digitally accessible to all in the digital format.
An online platform named Human Kinetics Library is open for trial, lasting until 31th May.
The online platform - Human Kinetics Library - which is dedicated to the teaching, research and understanding of sport, kinesiology, and exercise science. The platform features over 150 eBooks, alongside ancillary materials for students.
Due to the emergency situation and closing of universities, several publishing houses and databases gave free access to their materials that could be used by the students, researchers and employees of the University of Tartu. In case of some databeses, free access has been extended also after the emergency period.
Frequently Asked Questions
The library building
No, due to the emergency situation, the main building of the library is closed at least until 18 May 2020. Only the Smart Locker can be accessed for picking up the requested books from Monday to Friday at 12-18. Books can returned at the same time to the books return box in the lobby of the library.
UT Library is closed due to the emergency situation, but starting from Wednesday, 25 March, users can request books via the e-catalogue ESTER. The requested books can be picked up from the Smart Lockers in the library lobby.
Instructions how to request and borrow books in emergency situation
In connection with the emergency situation in Estonia, declared by the Government with the aim of preventing the further spread of the coronavirus, the University of Tartu Library is closed from 14 March until 01 May.
Access to all e-databases is guaranteed. All e-courses will proceed as usual, information enquiries are answered and, in case of need and if possible, digitising service is offered. Also, books can be purchased from the library's e-shop and the virtual exhibition of new books is compiled.
Prime Minister Jüri Ratas visited the University of Tartu Library on 6 March to get an overview of the renovated building, which was reopened at the end of 2018. The Prime Minister met the director Krista Aru to discuss the role and opportunities of the libraries in the present educational and research situation.
