University library to close for twelve hours

The University library (UB) Freiburg will be closed on Thursday, September 13, 2018 from 6am-6pm for a routine check of its emergency generator. Once a year, the university tests the emergency power supply of the UB under real conditions in accordance with the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health: It simulates a power failure to check whether all systems that it supplies are functioning. In the event of a power outage, the safety-related technology, for example smoke extraction, sewage lifting system, ventilation, fire detection system or elevators, must continue to operate stably - even if the building is supplied with emergency power for a longer period of time.

The University regrets this unavoidable inconvenience: real conditions can only exist if the test takes place on a normal working day and if the technical building management staff and contractors are quickly available when needed. The date in the semester break was chosen so that the impairment is as small as possible. The students have access to the more than 60 decentralized libraries at the University of Freiburg as places of learning. In addition, the web services of the UB are also available during the test.