Public Services

Online Reservation

Document reservations are by default made online. To do this, log in to your personal account on our online catalog.

After performing your searches in the catalog, you must reserve the documents you are interested in, provided they are available for reservation.

When finalizing your reservation, you can choose between on-site consultation, borrowing, or digitization on demand. Note that borrowing and digitization are subject to restrictions for valuable and/or copyright-protected documents.

Some of the older collections are not yet accessible through the online catalog, but only via a paper-based catalog. If you cannot find what you're looking for in the online catalog, you can email bibliotheque@conservatoire.be.

On-Site Consultation

On-site consultation is available by reservation only and takes place in the reading room of the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR). For more information on opening hours and accessibility of KBR, please see the practical information page.

Create your free MyKBR account via KBR’s online catalog and reserve a spot in the reading room two working days in advance.

Come to KBR on the day of your reservation and present a valid KBR library card. You will have access to the reading room where you can consult your reserved documents.

The KBR library card is available at KBR’s reception desk. It is free for students and staff of the CrB and KCB upon presentation of a student or staff card. For anyone outside the CrB or KCB, KBR’s registration conditions apply.

By registering or coming to work at the Library, you agree to abide by its regulations.

Borrowing

Document borrowing is also available at KBR but does not require advance reservation of a spot or a KBR library card.

Any document borrowed must have been reserved through the Conservatoire Library’s online catalog. Before coming to KBR to borrow your documents, ensure you have received email confirmation that your documents are available.

Once you have received confirmation, go to the loan counter at the entrance to the KBR reading room and request the documents reserved in your name. You will be asked to sign the loan form before you can take the documents. Don’t forget to bring your student or staff card if you are a member of the CrB or KCB.

You may borrow a maximum of 4 documents for a period of 6 weeks, which can be renewed once.

When your loan period expires, you must return the documents to the loan counter at KBR. Any delays will incur penalties.

Digital Reproduction

You can order a digital reproduction of a document. This service is paid and is only available in accordance with copyright laws. Documents can be requested in JPEG, TIFF, or PDF formats.

You can place your order for a digital reproduction by noting it in your reservation via the online catalog or by sending an email to numerisation@conservatoire.be. In the latter case, be sure to specify in your email either the reference number(s) of the document(s) you're interested in, or the permalink(s) of the corresponding catalog record(s) in the online catalog.

Access to KBR Spaces, Resources, and Collections

Due to the temporary presence of the Conservatoire Library within the KBR building, the KBR library card gives access to both the Conservatoire Library collections and those of KBR, including its physical and digital collections.

You can search KBR’s collections via its online catalog and your MyKBR account. This is the same account that allows you to reserve your spot in the reading room.

You can also subscribe to a free annual membership for KBR’s electronic resources. These resources include major musicological and musical databases such as Grove Music Online, RILM, RIPM, JSTOR, and Cairn. Most of the electronic resources are accessible remotely.

If you do not wish to consult the Conservatoire Library collections or those of KBR but simply wish to study/read/work, you do not need to reserve a spot. You can go to the study room with Wi-Fi access or to the open-access spaces in the building.

More information about your visit to KBR.

More information about KBR's digital collections.

Research Support

One of the Library’s missions is to support scientific, artistic, and pedagogical research based on its collections.

You can contact the Library to request information, advice, or suggestions, whether for writing an article or book, preparing an academic paper, recording musical works, or achieving an artistic result in any form. To do so, please send an email to bibliotheque@conservatoire.be.

Orchestra Material Rental for a Belgian Work

In 2015, the Library took over the former CeBeDeM (Belgian Center for Music Documentation) collection. This collection includes works by nearly 160 Belgian 20th-century composers. A page of our website is dedicated to it.

It is possible to rent orchestral materials held in this collection. To do so, please contact bibliotheque@conservatoire.be, specifying the work you are interested in and the date(s) of the concert(s).

This collection is included in the Library’s online catalog.