eLibrary
Onleihe

The eLibrary is the virtual library of the Goethe-Institut. This service allows you to borrow digital documents, such as eBooks, eAudio books and electronic newspapers, for a predetermined period of time, by downloading them from the eLibrary.

Returning the media isn’t necessary; at the end of the loan period, the media automatically becomes unavailable. With our eLibrary, borrowing media is possible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Every person who is interested, and who is registered with one of our Goethe-Institut libraries, can use the services of the eLibrary.
Please note: The use of eLibrary media on Apple and Linux powered devices is very limited (at the moment, only eBooks in the ePub format can be used). The download of eLibrary media onto the Kindle is not possible. We recommend that you make sure that your PC or Mac operating system is compatible prior to signing up.

Logging in to use our eLibrary is simple:

1. Log in to your Mein Goethe.de account.  If you don't yet have a Mein Goethe.de account please register for one (registration and use of Mein Goethe.de and the eLibrary are free of charge).
   
   Our eLibrary is for customers based outside Germany. To use the eLibrary within Germany please contact your local library.
2. After logging in to Mein Goethe.de, go to the menu option "My eLibrary" and click on the "Log in" option.  You can now use the digital media available in our eLibrary!

Prior to registering for the eLibrary, please check that your PC or Mac meets the minimum technical requirements for use. We highly recommend a broadband Internet connection (DSL, cable) for media downloads.

The following formats are currently used in the eLibrary:for eBooks: PDF-format and/or ePub-format

• for eAudio: WMA-format
• for eVideo: WMV-format
• for ePaper: PDF-format

The minimal requirements for Windows systems are:

• Operating system: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
• Windows Media Player 11 or higher
• Adobe Reader X or higher
• Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2 (free Adobe ID required for authentification)
• Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher
• Firefox 3.6.0 or higher

The minimal requirements for Mac systems (for eBook use only) are:

• Mac OS 10.2.8 - 10.4.2 + Adobe Reader 7.1.0
• Mac OS 10.4.3 - 10.5.3 + Adobe Reader 8.x (9)

Please note that only eBooks in the ePub format are currently available on Apple products. In order to open ePubs on an iPad or iPhone you can download the free Overdrive Media Console or Bluefire apps and sign in with your free Adobe ID. ePapers are currently not available for download onto Apple products. eAudio, eMusic and eVideo also not available, even if Windows Mediaplayer for Mac has been installed.

The minimal requirements for Linux systems for eBook use are:

• SuSe Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 + Adobe Reader 7.0.9 - 8.x
• Slackware Linux 10 + Adobe Reader 7.0.9 - 8.x
• Debian 4.0 Etch + Adobe Reader 7.0.9 - 8.x
• Ubuntu (ab Version 8.10)

The Adobe PDF Reader is required in all cases. Other PDF readers, such as kpdf, unfortunately do not work. Adobe Reader 8.1.1 is recommended for Linux.

We appreciate your understanding that while we currently are able to make our new range of titles available to many customers, for technical reasons, we are as yet unable to do so for all of them.

Please make sure that your eBook reader is compatible.