A scholarly library has been connected with the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna since its foundation.  Due to its large number of historic books, the library was granted the status of an independent museum collection in 2001.

The holdings of the publicly accessible library cover all of the regions relevant to ethnology, i.e. for cultural and social anthropology.  The library holdings include not only “traditional” media such as books, periodicals, atlases, etc., but increasingly also DVDs, videos, CD-ROMs, and audiocassettes.  Moreover, all interested persons can use the lending library with its reading room in its entirety at no cost.  The lending period for books is 30 days if not otherwise specified (see Library Rules and Regulations).

Director: Heinz Gratzer