The ZHB reading room has lots of workspaces, plus literature on a variety of subjects, particularly general reference works, language and specialist dictionaries, bibliographies and handbooks.

The lounge in our catalog room offers a wide range of journals. Explore our e-media catalog using one of our tablets, which you can borrow to use inside the library. If you'd like to search our entire catalog, there are two search terminals you can use. New additions, subject-specific displays about our holdings, and a small selection of books from our Lucerne collection complete the materials available in the catalog room.

You will find a wide selection of national and international newspapers in alphabetical order on the lower level of the library. The newspapers may be read in the whole library, but should be put back in their shelves afterwards.

Sempacherstrasse has around 140 workspaces. These cannot be booked in advance. However, our Seat Navigator lets you check for free spaces and where they are in the library.

You can see how busy the building currently is and display exactly which spaces are vacant (green), occupied (red) and vacated for a break (yellow) on a campus map in our V.Scout spatial information system. The motion sensors used to populate the map do not collect or store personal data. The sensors transmit data wirelessly. They also give off far less radiation and are much more energy-efficient than WiFi or cellular communications.

If you leave your workspace for a short break, there's no need to worry – it won't be shown as vacant again straightaway. The Seat Navigator follows these rules as regards breaks:

• If a space is occupied for at least 20 minutes and then vacated, the display switches it to break mode (yellow) for 60 minutes.
• If a space is occupied for less than 20 minutes and then vacated, the display switches it straight back to vacant (green).

If you have questions or suggestions about Seat Navigator, we'd love to hear from you at informatik @ zhbluzern.ch.

In the 4th floor open stacks there are 14 long-term workspaces with a lockable storage cupboard. You can rent one for six months (if you need to use it regularly at least four days per week) for a fee of CHF 50. For information and reservations, please contact: claudia.heini @ zhbluzern.ch

The 4th floor at Sempacherstrasse has four group study rooms. Two can be reserved ad hoc on site, and you can book the other two a fortnight in advance. There are two self-service files at the information desk where you can make your reservation. Groups can reserve a room for up to two hours a day. If the room is not reserved when your session ends, you can extend your booking. Reservations are canceled after 15 minutes if the group is not in the room.