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Amira van Weegen

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Open to everyone—and that was exactly the challenge

What the library was looking for in a solution

No more racing for study spots—booking with anny is a breeze!

Four things that are different today

Two key takeaways from our student survey

Study Seat Booking with anny: How TU Wien Saved 4,000 Emails a Year

6 min

Open to everyone—and that was exactly the challenge

Around 600 study spaces, up to 800 visitors in the building, and 4,000 booking emails a year: The University Library of TU Wien was facing a challenge that many university libraries know all too well. Today, the group study rooms and half of all study spaces are managed smoothly via anny. Christine Hax, Head of User Services, shares how the transition went, the rules behind it, and what a student survey revealed afterwards.

More people than spaces

The TU Wien Library is two things at once: a university library and a public library. "Anyone can walk in here," says Christine Hax. So access is not just limited to those enrolled at TU Wien. Many school classes and students use the facility, and because of its central location in the heart of Vienna, numerous students from other universities do too.

The result is a library that enjoys fantastic utilization. Around 600 study spaces face up to 800 people in the building on weekends, with everyone looking for a spot to work. During peak exam seasons, the main library in particular is regularly packed.

Naturally, this created a distribution challenge: TU Wien students felt disadvantaged in their own library when they couldn't find a free space. Not because the library is open to the public, but simply because there were too few spots for too many people on those critical study days.

4,000 emails for six rooms

In addition to the study spaces, there was a second, completely different challenge. It didn't affect the students, but rather the team: managing the six group study rooms.

Anyone who needed a room sent an email. Someone at the service desk read it, checked a custom-built Outlook calendar, replied, and entered the booking. For every single request. Around 4,000 times a year.

Until then, the library had never used a proper room booking system. The entire workload fell on the service desk team, and for students, every booking meant writing an email and waiting to see if the room was even available.

Two challenges, one clear realization. Both needed the exact same thing: a system that handles bookings automatically.

What the library was looking for in a solution

Before the search even began, it was clear what the system had to deliver. Two requirements topped the list.

First: Integration with existing access systems. The solution had to integrate seamlessly with the TU Wien directory of persons and support Single Sign-on. No new login credentials for TU students, no separate accounts for active library users. The side effect is crucial for booking spots: Only those who actually hold a library card can book.

Second: Manageable without an IT department. The system needed to be easily configured and adjusted by the people who work with it every single day.

anny ticks both boxes, and that's exactly what tipped the scales – Christine notes:

“No special programming skills are needed to tailor the booking system to our library and our specific requirements. Even subsequent adjustments can be made by people without an IT background. That is very important to us.”

While anny first caught their eye with its intuitive user interface, it was ultimately the powerful admin dashboard behind it that truly won them over.

No more racing for study spots—booking with anny is a breeze!

Because anny can be configured without an IT department, the library was able to map exactly the rules they needed. And these rules solve the distribution problem from Section 1 in a way that doesn't exclude anyone.

Instead of allocating seats on a "first come, first served" basis, TU Wien operates with staggered lead times: TU students can book up to seven days in advance, while everyone else can book up to two days in advance.

This gives TU students a real planning advantage, because those who plan ahead will almost always find a workspace. At the same time, the library remains open: whatever is still free after five days becomes available to everyone else, rather than going to waste.

Not everything is bookable. Around half of the study spots can be reserved, while the other half remains intentionally free and accessible to anyone who drops by spontaneously.

Specific rules apply to the group study rooms. These are exclusively bookable for TU students and are intended to be used actually as group spaces. That's why the booking process asks if other people are coming along, without collecting any names. The time slots range from half an hour to a full day, meaning eight hours. The rooms are bookable during the library's entire opening hours, even when the service desk is not staffed.

The Rollout: Floor by Floor

Introducing a new system for nearly 6,000 people is quite a feat. That is why the library deliberately took a step-by-step approach instead of changing everything all at once.

It all started with the six group study rooms. Manageable, clearly defined, and it worked like a charm right from the start.

Next came the study spots, floor by floor. Starting on the fifth floor, the team worked their way down to the first. On each floor, only a portion of the spaces was made bookable. By the peak study season in January, the rollout was successfully completed, and all designated spots were visible and bookable in anny.

The technical setup itself was incredibly fast, thanks to a clear roadmap from anny with defined responsibilities.

Communication was and remains a key pillar

Posters throughout the building, info points and QR codes at all key locations, overview maps showing the bookable spaces, and handy postcards to take away, explaining how to book via QR code and a quick guide. Especially during peak times, this is an easy and effective way to make sure everyone learns about the new system.

Four things that are different today

The administrative effort is gone. The lending desk team has practically no work left to do with the booking process. The 4,000 emails per year are a thing of the past.

Students get instant clarity. Is a room free, can I book it? Instead of waiting for a response, they see it right away and receive immediate confirmation.

An unexpected benefit: Visibility. During peak times, the main library was regularly overcrowded, while space remained available in the chemistry and mechanical engineering libraries. Because these rooms are now also shown in anny, many students only realized for the first time that they can study there as well. Since then, these locations have been used significantly more. In this way, a booking system has casually become a tool for balancing the load across the entire campus.

Support effort remains remarkably low. With nearly 6,000 users, one might expect a flood of inquiries. But they simply don't happen.

"The system is set up so intuitively that our staff at the lending desk can always answer questions easily."
- Christine

Two key takeaways from our student survey

Introducing a new system is one thing. Knowing how it's received is another. That's why the library conducted a student survey, looking back with a healthy dose of skepticism, Christine recalls:

"We were a bit worried at first that only those who were unhappy would respond. That's so often the case with surveys."

Those worries quickly faded. Many students went out of their way to share positive feedback. Best of all, they provided detailed, constructive responses packed with concrete suggestions.

Key Takeaway 1: The check-in is the real game-changer

The most frequently mentioned topic wasn't the booking process itself, but what happens afterward. Users reserve a spot, check in, yet the seat still sits empty at times. Longer breaks or checking in from home are potential reasons, but the library doesn't know the exact causes just yet. Fortunately, the students provided practical solutions that the team is already working on implementing.

Key Takeaway 2: Getting to the live availability map should be faster

Several users noted that having to click into each individual floor to see what's currently available was a bit tedious. A customized landing link with direct time selection will now give users a quicker overview—and looking ahead, this can easily be linked directly to the existing QR codes.

Summary & Recommendation

What matters most to Christine: the collaboration doesn't end with the implementation. Feedback from the library is genuinely heard and sometimes makes its way into a new feature in just a few short weeks. Her conclusion is clear and inspiring:

“I can wholeheartedly recommend anny to all other universities. We have had an absolutely fantastic experience with it.”

Key takeaways for other libraries

Fairness is a matter of configuration. Staggered booking windows perfectly balance the goal of being "open to everyone" while putting "our students first" – without excluding anyone.
Keep some space for spontaneity. Leaving around half of the desks unbookable keeps the library welcoming and open for spontaneous visits.
Step-by-step rollouts work wonders. Start with a small, clearly defined area, then expand floor by floor. This minimizes risk and builds great trust.
Don't forget on-site communication. Posters, overview maps, QR codes, and postcards are perfect for reaching the people who are already in the building.
Visibility makes an impact. A booking system introduces users to spaces they didn't even know existed, successfully taking the pressure off overcrowded spots.
Launch day is just the beginning. A quick survey highlights topics that otherwise go unnoticed during daily operations – and you'll find students share incredibly constructive feedback.

A big thank you to Christine Hax and the team at the TU Wien University Library for welcoming us and sharing these fantastic insights.

Curious to see how anny can make life easier for your library, too? Book your demo now and experience anny in action!

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