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Summary

The College Library of the Transtibiscan Reformed Church District has served the world of education at the Reformed College since its foundation. It collects, in the first place, special literature, belles-lettres, and works on local history concerning Debrecen and the Reformed congregations in the Transtibiscan area.

Information for visitors

As a public library, it provides access to the following basic services free of charge:

  • use of the reading room
  • use of the journals and the handbooks available in the reading room
  • use of the catalogues
  • information on the use of the library and the national library system

Registered readers can use the library equipment (computers, photocopiers, printers) and the documents stored in the research room and in the storage depot. To register, you need to complete a registration form. By signing the registration form, users accept to comply with the library usage rules.

Enrolment is valid for a calendar year.

Enrolment fees:

Annual reading pass:

  • Total price: 1600 HUF
  • Discount price: 500 HUF

Services

Readers with a valid reading pass can borrow volumes published after 1950. Books for loan can be borrowed via the online library catalogue. The reading pass enables readers to borrow up to 5 documents for a month. Loans can be renewed once before their expiry date. Books reserved for another reader cannot be extended.

The majority of the books are in storage area, thus, a stack request order must be submitted to start the borrowing procedure. Stack request orders are available in the reading room or they can be downloaded from the website of the library. Completed stack request orders must be handed to a librarian. Application forms completed electronically must be forwarded as attachments by e-mail to the address . A valid reading pass is necessary to submit requests via the online catalogue. Click on the title Details in the catalogue to display the details of the book. To start the borrowing procedure, click on the title Checkout. Before submitting the request, readers must check in with their reading pass.

Library stack service

The library stack service operates between 09:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Requests submitted on a stack request order take 10-20 minutes to complete.

Expected times for fulfilling the stack request submitted online:

Time of request Time of receipt
before 9:00 a.m. from 9:30 a.m.
between 9.00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. from 12:00 p.m.
between 11.30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. from 3:30 p.m.

Documents requested after 3:30 p.m. will be delivered on the following workday.

Onsite use

The books available in the reading room and those retrieved from the stack can be used without restriction during the opening hours. Books retrieved from the stack will be set aside for the duration of the research (for a maximum of 1 month).

Journals can only be used in the reading room. Current issues of the journals can be found on the reading room shelves. Previous issues can be retrieved in the online catalogue and the card catalogue in the reading room. The stock under protection (incunabula, old Hungarian books, manuscripts, etc.) is available for readers with a valid reading pass and a researcher license.

Reprography

A photocopier, printer and scanner are available for readers with a valid reading card in the reading room. A digital copy may be made in compliance with the copyright law.

The digitization of the stock items under protection is subject to a fee. The cost include the price of service and the amount payable after the recordings. In the case of publication an article-processing charge must be paid on an individual basis. An invoice will be issued for the order. Copies will be sent to the customer by e-mail, or in the case of a larger batch, via a cloud-based service after payment of the invoice. The basic fee for the service is 1000 HUF (payable in each case). The order for digital copies can be started in the Digitization menu.

Prices

Photocoping, printing Price/page
Black and white A4 20 HUF
Colour A4 60 HUF
Black and white A3 40 HUF
Colour A3 120 HUF
Digital recording
Editions printed after 1900 20 HUF
Editions printed between 1850–1900 50 HUF
Editions printed before 1850 120 HUF
Types of documents Quality of recordings Price/copy
Old editions after 1850
materials prepare for research research quality,
200 dpi jpg or pdf
150 HUF
high resolution version good quality 300/600 dpi
jpg or uncompressed tiff
300 HUF
Editions printed before 1850
materials prepare for research research quality,
200 dpi jpg or pdf
300 HUF
high resolution version good quality 300/600 dpi
jpg or uncompressed tiff
500 HUF
Digitization of manuscripts after 1850
materials prepare for research research quality,
200 dpi jpg or pdf
100 HUF
high resolution version good quality 300/600 dpi
jpg or uncompressed tiff
200 HUF
Digitization of manuscripts between 1600 to 1850
materials prepare for research research quality,
200 dpi jpg or pdf
250 HUF
high resolution version good quality 300/600 dpi
jpg or uncompressed tiff
500 HUF
Digitization of manuscripts before 1600 Please, ask for the price.

Research

Besides a valid reading pass and a research statement, also special permission is required to research museum documents (old printed books and manuscripts). See the menu on Digitization of museum documents.

Rules of research

The special collection manager retrieves the protected museum documents for the researcher from the stack. These documents can be ordered by e-mail or in person by filling out the stack request order in the reading room. A staff member of the reading room service will complete the handover and the return of the protected museum material. Research can be performed in a designated place in the reading room. To protect the documents, notes must only be made in pencil or on the reader’s own laptop. As the requested documents cannot be left lying on the desk, they must be returned to the reading room service 30 minutes before the reading room closes. The research sheet must be signed to confirm the receipt and the return of the documents. A document for research can be reserved for a maximum of 14 days. If the library closes for several days (e.g. Easter, Pentecost, Christmas), the document is returned to the stack on the last working day and it will have to be requested again.

The Library Exhibition Hall

Since the 16th century the Library of the Reformed College of Debrecen has become one of the most significant church collections in Hungary. It has a stock of more than half a million books. The reading room for public opened its doors in 1890. Our registered readers are free to use our old and modern books and manuscripts. The classicist style library exhibition hall can be visited too. The ticket for this can be purchased in the Museum of the College.