Practical information
Important coronavirus (COVID-19) information
Last update on 2020.07.01
- The Library and the Rolex Learning Center are only accessible to EPFL students (reservation required).
More information -
The Library offers all its users the opportunity to pick up and return documents on site. These documents may be from the EPFL collections or reserved documents in the NEBIS network. It is necessary to make an appointment to come and collect your documents.
More information -
EPFL members: benefit from and easy loan and access to collections (on-demand printed standards pick-up, digitized articles and book chapters sent by email).
More information
Find detailed information about EPFL Library during the sanitary crisis is on go.epfl.ch/coronavirus-library.
■ Opening hours and access
EPFL Library and the Rolex Learning Center are open every day from 7:00 to 24:00 (excluding 1st August and 25th December) and accessible to limited mobility persons. The librarians provide services to the public from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 20:00:
- help and support
- registration
- borrowing reserved and ordered documents
- borrowing DVDs, clickers, video games and consoles
EPFL Bibliothèque
Rolex Learning Center
Station 20
CH-1015 Lausanne
Allée de Savoie
1024 Ecublens
then follow the road which leads to the parking lots
Coordinates : N 46.518394, E 6.568469
■ Contact
If you have any questions about citation, plagiarism, documentary research or just need some information, contact the Library virtual desk. We will answer you within 24 hours (working days).
Telephone and email permanence: 9am-noon, 2pm-5pm, mon-fri
Contact: 021 693 21 56, [email protected]
@EPFLlibrary 
■ Live occupancy rate
To know the occupancy rate of the Library in real time, download the application Affluences.
■ Access the collections
Anybody who is registered at the Library, or in the NEBIS network, may borrow documents on site by using the self-service loan stations. Online collections (periodicals, ebooks and databases) are accessible remotely for EPFL members using VPN. External users can access these resources at the Library. It is also possible to reserve and order documents.
■ Register
The EPFL Library is a university library and a public library. It is necessary to be registered in order to benefit from the services and collections.
Registration at the Library is free of charge. The user account of the EPFL Library also allows you to borrow documents in the network of NEBIS libraries.
EPFL employees and students
Persons affiliated to EPFL are automatically pre-registered. It is essential that this registration be validated on your first visit to the Library – make sure to bring along your CAMIPRO card. Validation may be carried out at the Library desk, from 8:00 to 20:00 from Monday to Friday.
External users and individuals
Anybody can register freely at the Library desks provided he/she is aged 16 years or over and presents a valid official ID. Pre-registration can also be done online; in that case it is necessary to have this registration validated in the Library between 8:00 and 20:00 from Monday to Friday.
Once you are registered, your NEBIS user account allows you to:
- look up your user account online
- borrow, renew and reserve documents on-site and online
- have books delivered for free that are available in the NEBIS network
For the EPFL employees and students, it is possible to get connected with their GASPAR username. If you forgot your password and/or username, feel free to contact us.
The library card gives you access to all the libraries of the NEBIS libraries network.
EPFL employees and students
Your CAMIPRO card is also your library card.
External users and individuals
A personal and non-transferable NEBIS card will be provided to you free of charge after registration.
NEBIS network
Registration in a library of the NEBIS network also allows one to borrow documents in the other libraries of the network. This registration is also valid in the IDS network.
Rules
The EPFL Library rules apply to all registered users. It is also important to be aware of the borrowing terms and conditions.
Change of address
A change of address must always be communicated, either:
- online, directly in your user account
- at the Library desks
- by email, [email protected]
■ Workspaces
EPFL Library provides its users with 860 seated work places in quiet and silent areas.
Please store your belongings in the lockers freely available in the basement of the building, at your disposal for daily use.
Scooters can be locked outside on dedicated supports.
During the revision period (January and June), in order to comply huge affluence, additional work places are temporarily installed in the Library and the Rolex Learning Center. The Forum is open and rooms are also available for students on EPFL campus.
For group work, you will find ten meeting rooms near the Library: the meetimg bubbles. They are accessible by reservation weekdays from 8:00am to 6:00pm and without reservation outside these hours.
Main floor collections
Basement collections
■ Facilities
The Library provides its users with various computer equipment detailed hereunder, as well as:
- loan terminals to borrow publications yourself
- mobile terminals to recharge your devices
- a station to charge smartphones and laptops
- flipcharts and felt pen kits that can be borrowed from the Library counter, as well as free access to flipchart paper throughout the Rolex Learning Center
- audio headphones and small computer equipment available for borrowing at the Library desk
Workstations are available for consultation and to search for publications (Library catalogue: BEAST, databases and other digital documents).
On these computers, you can use standard office suites (Office 2016, Libre Office 5.x), Adobe Reader DC, 7-Zip, Flash Player, PrimoPDF (for generating PDF documents) and VLC.
For the visitors
Free-access terminals enable one to do some research on the internet and to use the standard office tools. The access points are marked beside the station. Data can be saved onto a USB flash drive.
Printing is possible by requesting a visitor’s card (“bibguest”) from a Library desk and providing a form of ID. The rates are set out on this page. We appreciate it when our visitors promptly bring back these cards after use.
For the EPFL members
The EPFL members have free-access use of the terminals (as do the visitors) or they can opt for authentication with their usual login at the other stations.
Printing is possible with the myPrint system.
The Library provides a range of digitisation equipment free of charge to its users. Use is free and does not require authentication.
- Book scanners :
- These devices are specially conceived for digitising books and other related documents, with a thickness of up to 150 mm. They have functionalities such as automatic framing, elimination of black borders, finger masking and book curvature correction. The A2 scanner allows digitisation of large documents such as newspapers, drawings or maps.
- Flatbed scanner :
- This scanner is set up on a PC that the user can access. Software is available for editing, compression or other work.
- Multifuncion copiers :
- These devices make specifically digitisation possible. They are efficient for flat documents or sheaves of separate sheets that can be inserted into the loader.
| i2s e-scan open system | Epson | Canon | Canon | Canon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Books scanner
Colour |
Flatbed scanner
Colour |
Multifunction copier
Colour |
Multifunction copier
Black and white |
Multifunction copier
Black and white |
| Emplacement | Enseignement | Sciences et Techniques | Enseignement | Enseignement | Sciences et Techniques |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Format max.
[mm × mm] |
560 × 400 | 420 × 297 (A3) | 420 × 297 (A3) | 420 × 297 (A3) | 420 × 297 (A3) |
| Résolution [dpi] | 200 / 400 | 600 / 1200 (
interpolated ) |
600 | 600 | 600 |
| File formats | PDF (image only or searchable)
TIFF, JPEG |
PDF (image only)
TIFF, JPEG, BMP |
PDF (image only or searchable), TIFF, JPEG | PDF (image only or searchable), TIFF, JPEG | PDF (image only or searchable), TIFF, JPEG |
| Output | USB | USB or email | USB or Email (EPFL) | USB or Email (EPFL) | USB or Email (EPFL) |
| Software | N/A | Acrobat (searchable PDF), GIMP,… | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Manual | e-scan | Guide MyPrint | Guide MyPrint | Guide MyPrint |
The library has a microfiche and microfilm reader-printer which is located in the basement of the “Sciences et Techniques” (Science and Technology) area. The cost of printing is 10 cents/sheet.
■ Audio tour
Are you a new comer or visiting the EPFL? Would you like to know more about the main services and collections of the Library? It is now possible to carry out an autonomous visit of the Library in audio-guided form, directly from your smartphone or tablet! Follow the circuit of the eleven colorful flags on your own, by listening to the audio-guide commentary accessible through QR-codes distributed throughout the Library. Meet us at the welcome desk to start the tour and borrow headphones and a tablet.
