The German library system: Libraries in large cities

ht. Libr. Rev. (1969) 1, 241-262

The German Library System: Libraries in Large Cities

GEORGE CHANDLER?

In August 1968 I attended the IFLA Council in Frankfurt as an international, national and city delegate, and took part in the following international study tour which was further extended by kind invitation of the German Government (Inter Nationes). In all I visited five national or state libraries, seven university libraries, 13 city central libraries (Stadtbibliotheken), and 18 public libraries (offentliche Btichereien), making a total of 43 libraries of which 29 were new.

As an international delegate, I was interested to see the latest developments and to discuss in detail methods of collaboration in the exchange of information, books and staff particularly through INTAMEL (In- ternational Association of Metropolitan City Libraries). As a national delegate I was anxious to study the national structure of the German library system in connection with the discussions taking place on the structure of the British library system in the (British) Library Associa- tion, of which I am chairman of the Executive Committee, and in the English Library Advisory Council appointed by the Minister of Educa- tion, of which I am a member. As a city delegate, I was interested to study economical methods of administration, computerization, staff organization, the design of new libraries, and co-operation between various types of libraries in large cities. Because of this threefold approach I obtained a broader view of the German library system than would have been obtained from a single approach. On the other hand my point of view was still limited, and many important library developments which I saw in Germany are not discussed in this report, which is primarily concerned with the range and structure of library services in large cities.

Details of the structure of the organization of the German library services are contained in the remarkable range of studies, published to mark the 1968 IFLA Council in Frankfurt.

The most important of these is Das Bibliothekswesen der Bundesrepublik

t Honorary Editor, Znfernational Library Review, 23 Dowsefield Lane, Liverpool L18 3JG, England.

242 C. CHANDLER

Deut.~hlund, by Gisela von Busse and Horst Ernestus, (Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 302 pp., 1968.). This book is a model ofits kind, containing both the background necessary to explain the present situation and also detailed statistics for the comparison of the work of different libraries. I hope that the work will be translated into English, and that other countries will be encouraged to produce a similar scholarly and readable volume on their own library systems.

The work is divided into eight parts: general background; differ,ent types of libraries; library co-operation and central services; working methods in libraries; library building; bibliography and documentation; the library profession and training; practical hints. The appendices have been chosen with care and include: a table of the 11 state authorities showing their area, population, density, etc. ; a table showing the number of local authorities in each population group, e.g. there are three cities with more than a population of one million and eight with a population between 500,000 and one million; a suggested itinerary for a tour of German libraries arranged by region and with details of the libraries to be seen. I have drawn much information from this volume in preparing this report.

In addition to the above general survey, a special number has been issued of the <eitschrzjii fiir Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographic entitled Bibliotheksneubauten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, edited by G. Liebers (Frankfurt, Klostermann, 344 pp., 1968). This is an excellent record of new library building in Germany. After a short introduction, the text is arranged alphabetically under the name of the city and locality. A large exhibition to illustrate the new library building in Germany was held during the 1968 Frankfurt IFLA Council and was a remarkable testi- mony to the amount of new building and rebuilding which have taken place.

These two studies, combined with my extensive tour of German libraries and my recent membership of committees investigating the structure of British library services, have made it possible for me to draw certain comparisons between the German and British library systems and to formulate certain tentative recommendations in so far as they affect the range of national, state and city library services available in large cities above 400,000 population.

The three principal supporters of libraries in large cities are the central government, the states and the cities. The differences between libraries in German and British cities arise from differences in both countries between parts played by the central governments, the states and the cities. In Germany the central government is a federal government with limited powers in educational and cultural matters which are

GERMAN LIBRARY SYSTEM 243

primarily the concern of the state governments to which the cities are subsidiary. In Great Britain the central government has extensive powers and the cities are directly subservient to it, but they have control locally of most matters, including education (except universities). If local government reorganization in Great Britain results in the creation of regional parliaments, the system will approach nearer to the German, whether these regions are city regions or larger units.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS

The central government in Germany (der Bund) carries very few direct responsibilities for libraries. It supports the Deutsche Bibliothek in Frankfurt, the library of the German Parliament and some research libraries. It also maintains libraries for the various governmental departments. Some of these are in provincial cities.

By an agreement between the central government and the states (Lander) it is possible for the central government and the states to co-operate in the financing of certain libraries, such as the law library of the Max-Planck-Institute, Hamburg, the Prussian State Library, Berlin, and the Ibero-American Institute Library, Berlin.

Whereas the German Government spreads its financial resources for public libraries over a number of cities, the British central government, which has much wider library responsibilities than the German Bund, devotes more of its resources to London where it maintains the national reference library (British Museum), the national reference library for science and invention (formerly Patent Office Library), and the important libraries of Government departments and the London museums. In addition it supports the National Central Library in association with the local authorities and other bodies, in order to encourage inter-library loans and co-operation; the National Lending Library for Science and Technology at Boston Spa; and university libraries. Recommendations have recently been made that the British central government should take an even more active part in library provision through the establishment of a national library service based on the existing national libraries and assisting also the regional reference libraries maintained by the large cities, and the special collections of all types of libraries. This ought to result in a fairer distribution of government resources over the country as a whole and would bring the British system nearer to the German system in this respect, without weakening the commanding position of London as a centre for libraries.

In order to show how the German system has enriched the services in particular cities, I describe three of the Government-supported libraries

244 C. CHANDLER

which I visited during my recent tour of Germany-the Deutsche Bibliothek, Frankfurt, the Prussian State Library, Berlin, and the Inter- national Youth Library, Munich.

The Deutsche Bibliothek, Frankfurt

The Deutsche Bibliothek was founded in Frankfurt in 1946 to act as depository library and bibliographical centre for literature in the German language. From 1945 the Deutsche Bibliothek has been responsible for conserving as comprehensively as possible all literature published in West Germany in German or foreign languages, and all literature published abroad in German. This responsibility was later extended to cover all foreign literature on Germany and translations of German works published abroad in foreign languages. From 1969 the Deutsche Bibliothek is financed mainly by central government funds. Previously it had been financed by the central government, the Hessen State, the city of Frankfurt and the German book trade.

The Deutsche Bibliothek publishes, as national bibliographical centre, the computerized German Bibliography.

A special collection of the Deutsche Bibliothek is of literature of German authors in exile 1933 to 45 which includes over 11,000 items. Copies of the catalogue of this collection and the up-to-date supplements were presented to all delegates to the Frankfurt IFLA Council, who also had an opportunity of inspecting the exile literature as this was on exhibition.

The new building of the Deutsche Bibliothek is now virtually completed, and I was very pleased to have an opportunity of touring this, and of examining the technical methods in use. The library is clearly designed to be an archive library and not to act as a general research library or a city central library. Indeed, this was the correct decision, for the Deutsche Bibliothek lies opposite the City and University Library, which is the general research library in Frankfurt. In 1968 the staff of the Deutsche Bibliothek totalled 219, plus 39 in training. Its stock in- cluded 675,000 monographs, 29,000 periodicals, 24,000 current periodicals, 4000 rolls of microfilm, totalling over a million bibliographical units. There is seating accommodation for only 80 readers. Approx- imately 250 readers used the library daily and the annual issues in 1965 were 128,000. The arrangement of the stock is by year of publication and running number. There is no open access to the stock.

The book tower is 19 stories high, of which 15 stories are for stacks. Each floor will take a maximum of 200,000 volumes, so that there is ample reserve book accommodation.

The existence of the Deutsche Bibliothek in Frankfurt of course greatly


benefits the citizens of Frankfurt and enables the City and University Library and the City Central Library to concentrate their resources on research and information respectively, leaving the archive function to the Deutsche Bibliothek. It is, of course, true that no provincial city would aim at maintaining a complete archive of the national literature for its citizens, but all cities have to preserve certain groups of literature, to make certain kinds of appropriate research possible. In Frankfurt the City and University Library and the City Central Library can be much more ruthless in discarding many relatively little-used books, in the safe knowledge that copies are readily available for consultation in the Deutsche Bibliothek. It was no doubt the appreciation of the value of having a complete archive of German literature in Frankfurt which caused the city to contribute so generously to its establishment. As funds are limited, this is perhaps one reason why the City Council has relatively neglected the City Central Library. The same applies to a much lesser extent in British cities, where the necessity for the city to maintain large reference libraries inevitably reduces the amount of money available for information and general services.

The new Prussian State Library, Berlin The Federal Government also contributes, in association with West

Berlin and three German states, to the Preussischer Kulturbesitz which maintains the West German part of the old Prussian State Library.

The old Prussian State Library served some functions of a German national library in pre-war Germany. Its collections were split by the war into two parts. One part was assembled after the war at Marburg and is now being transferred to the new building in West Berlin. The smaller part forms the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in East Berlin, to which I paid a hurried visit. I arrived just in time to take part in one of the monthly public tours of the library on Sundays. Clearly it has not yet recovered from the war-time difficulties and needed massive expenditure to make it adequate.

The former Prussian State Library was founded in 1661 and had a book stock in 1939 of 3.1 million volumes. Of these about 700,000 are in the old building in East Berlin, about 700,000 were lost in the war, and about I.7 million were assembled in Marburg and other repositories. In 1957 the Prussian Cultural Foundation was established and in 1962 the West German part of the former Prussian State Library was transferred to it. In 1964 an office of the State Library was established in Berlin, and later the General Direction, and other administrative offices were transferred to West Berlin, together with a number ofspecial departments-the Music Library, official publications, etc.

246 c . C HA N D I, E R

The new Prussian State Library undertakes some national responsibilities, e.g. the union catalogue of foreign periodicals and serials and for the exchange of official publications, etc.

In August 1967 the construction of the new State Library began. It is being built in four stages. The first stage will be completed in 1970 and the last in 1975.

The new State Library occupies an exceptionally good triangular site surrounded by main roads. The entrance on the ground floor will be in the centre of the base of the triangular site. The ground floor will con- tain an exhibition area, public catalogues, loans desk and lecture room, cataloguing and administration departments, the School of Librarian- ship, and the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut. The reading rooms for general purposes, periodicals and special collections will be on higher floors, flanked by stacks. Stacks will occupy two underground floors and four floors in a tower, with a storage capacity of over four million books. Total seating for 1222 readers is planned. Over 160,000 books will be on open access.

The decision of the German Government to support the new Prussian State Library was no doubt due to national reasons, rather than to the need for West Berlin to have another research library in present circumstances. For West Berlin is fortunate in having excellent new library buildings not only for the Free University, but also for the Technical University and the Central Public Library. West Berlin has indeed become a library show-piece.

International Youth Library, Munich

The German Federal Government also contributes directly towards the maintenance of a number of other libraries, including those with an international as well as a national function. I was able to visit one of these-the International Youth Library in Munich. Here again there is a happy collaboration in library provision in the provinces between central, state and city governments, which has never been achieved in Great Britain in the field of libraries, although it has been achieved successfully in other fields. On the other hand, the British central government meets a large proportion of the expenditure of cities by means of general grants towards the calculation of which library expenditure is considered.

The International Youth Library, an associated project of UNESCO, was founded in Munich in 1949. Funds to inaugurate the Library and to see it through its initial years were provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, New York. Today the main financial support for the running of the Library is met by the German Federal Republic, the State

GERMAN LIBRARY SYSTEII 247

of Bavaria and the City of Munich. Publishers of children’s and youth books throughout the world have played a major part in the development of the International Youth Library. They have regularly sent free copies of their annual production and, in addition, have often provided financial help.

In 1966 the book stock of the Library comprised over 100,000 volumes from roughly 50 countries. The annual increase is approximately 10,000 volumes per year. The main reference collections, shelved by language groups, are used mainly for the study of international children’s and youth literature. -4 special historical collection, either in original or xerographic copies of first editions, is being built up.

The International Youth Library is at the service of children and young people everywhere in encouraging their reading interests. Pub- lishers of children’s and youth books throughout the world use the facilities in their search for suitable titles for translation. Scholars, educationalists, teachers, students and librarians use the reference collections in carrying out individual research in the field of international children’s and youth literature, in particular the historical and theoretical collections.

The International Youth Library has been the venue of various international seminars, and workshops and exhibitions are held regularly to introduce teachers, library students and kindergarten students to international children’s and youth literature.

The German Federal Republic grants annual studentships to six to tight non-German students.

The existence of the International Youth Library in Munich does, of course, reduce the demands for children’s literature which might other- wise have to be met by the city libraries, and it is perhaps for this reason that the city of Munich has been prepared to join with the Federal Government and the Bavarian State in helping to finance the Library. In no British provincial city is support received from the Govern- ment for a public collection of children’s literature, although the children’s collections in certain cities could reasonably justify national support.

The German Research Council

In addition to contributing to the maintenance of certain libraries, the Federal Government assists other libraries indirectly through its support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the German Research Council.

The German Research Council is also sponsored by the states as well as by private foundations, etc. Through its Library Committee it encourages indirectly the development of research libraries. It is not able to assist the normal work of research libraries directly, which are the

248 G. CHANDLER

responsibility of the states, but it does support the development of special collections in particular libraries if these are to benefit a larger area than the states supporting them e.g. the acquisition offoreign literature in accordance with the plan for special collections, and other plans for general library co-operation. It also encourages the commencement of new enterprises such as the establishment and support of national subject libraries based on existing libraries-technology (Hanover Tech- nical University Library), medicine (Cologne University Library) etc.

There is no equivalent to the German Research Council in Great Britain, so far as libraries are concerned. The Public Libraries Act of 1964 does, however, permit the making of national grants for special services, and the Library Association has urged that this power should be used to assist directly the city regional reference libraries, which are national and international depositories, and also all libraries with special collections of national significance. At the moment only small ad hoc grants are made by the central government to provincial libraries for the purchase of specific rare material. This did not arise, however, from any special decision of the central government to assist in library provision in the provinces; the government succumbed to pressure to extend to libraries the fund which had already been established to assist the purchase of rare art and museum items.

THE STATES

In Germany, the states play a much more important part in the provision of libraries than the central government. Their populations vary considerably but their size is generally much greater than English counties, and their area covers cities also. They maintain state libraries in 27 cities.

TABLE I

Population No. of state libraries in cities

Schleswig-Holstein Hamburg Niedersachsen Bremen Nordrhein-Westfalen Hessen Rheinland-F’falz Baden-Wiirttemburg Bayern Saarland Berlin (West)

Total

2,489,OOO 1 1,840,OOO 1 6,982,OOO 4

750,000 1 16,832,OOO 1

5,250,OOO 4 3,620,OOO 1 8,548,OOO 2

10,256,OOO 11 1,132,OOO 0 2,173,OOO 1

59,872,OOO 27

GERMAN LIBRARY SYTSEM 249

The German states are also responsible for university libraries in 50 cities and for most schools of librarianship and central catalogues, and for special collections programmes and the publication of library journals.

There is no British equivalent to the German states. The nearest equivalents are Wales (population 2,600,000), Scotland (population 5, I 78,000) and Northern Ireland (population 1,485,000), but the Welsh National Library (two million ~01s.) and the Scottish National Library (two million vols.), which are the nearest equivalents to the research libraries of the German states, are maintained by the British central government. In England the responsibilities for establishing provincial public reference libraries is exercised by the cities.

In general, the large British city central library combines some of the functions of the German state library, the German city central library, and the German public library, the German state archives and the German city archives. Hence, the British city central libraries are the most heavily used libraries and are often the largest libraries in their areas, with stocks exceeding or approaching one million volumes in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, in addition to branch library stocks of a similar size. The British city libraries are, like the German state libraries, centres of co-operation for inter-library loan.

Although the German states maintain both state and university libraries, it is noteworthy that only one-fifth of the state libraries also serve as university libraries. The functions of both libraries are different. The more natural combination of state and city library has rarely been achieved, perhaps because they are established by different authorities.

The functions of the state libraries in Germany are to collect local literature and to act as depository libraries for certain national and international collections. They serve as reference libraries for the city and neighbourhood. They are universal libraries, which formerly con- centrated on the humanities, but which are being called upon to provide scientific and technical literature in greater quantities. However, they tend to leave to university libraries the collection of highly specialized periodicals and monographs, and concentrate on universal services.

Five of the German state libraries have book stocks of over one million : Bavaria (three million) ; Gottingen, Berlin (two million) ; Hamburg, Stuttgart and Darmstadt (c. one million). Fourteen state libraries have stocks between 100,000 and 600,000, including Bremen and Hanover. Six state libraries have stocks under 100,000 volumes.

The main function of German university libraries is to serve academic staff and students; but some assistance is also given to the city and its neighbourhood. The university libraries are state establishments in-

250 G. CHANDLER

corporated in the universities. Their directors are appointed by the Ministers of Culture of the States with the approval of the rector and senate.

The central libraries of the universities are lending libraries; the libraries of the institutes are reference libraries. Twelve university libraries have stocks of one million or more, but five of these are combined state libraries; six university libraries have 400 to 850,000 books; seven university libraries have 250 to 400,000 books.

During my tour I was able to visit several different types of state and university libraries in Berlin, Munich, Hanover, Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg, which enabled me to compare in detail the nature of their contribution to library services in cities as compared with British libraries. I regret that the terms of reference of this report prevent my discussing the extensive computerization at the exciting new Bochum University Libr-ary.

Munich In Munich the Bavarian state maintains not only the Bavarian State

Library, but also the Munich University Library and the Munich Technical University Library. In addition, the Federal Government maintains the Patent Office Library in Munich, while the technical library of the Science Museum is also of national importance.

The Bavarian State Library celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1958 and is now operating in its reconstructed old building and a modern extension. Although it lost 500,000 volumes in the war its stock has now reached approximately three million volumes. It takes 12,000 current periodicals. It concentrates on the humanities: history, ancient civiliza- tions, east Europe and music, which are the fields of its specializations in the programme of the German Research Council. It also has very important collections of manuscripts, incunabula and other early printed books. It receives free copies of all works published in Bavaria, as well as the official publications of the Federal Government. The large provincial depository city libraries in Great Britain have to pay 500/, of the cost of British government publications, although they receive patents, UNO, UNESCO and similar documents free.

The Bavarian State Library is the seat of the Bavarian State School for Librarianship and the Bavarian Central Catalogue, and of the West German Working Party for the International Repertory of Music Sources.

The general reading room has 500 seats, but use is restricted to bona fide persons over 18 years old. There are special reading rooms for eastern Europe, oriental, music, maps, manuscripts and periodicals. Its


stock is used extensively for inter-library loan, in order that this burden should not fall excessively on the university libraries. In 1967 over 72,000 volumes were lent. The large city libraries in Great Britain play a similar part in inter-library lending.

A unique feature of the Bavarian State Library is the Institute for Book and Manuscript Restoration, which was founded during the war and has since developed to serve the whole nation.

The staff of the Bavarian State Library is more than double that of the large British city central library. It totals 304, of which 44 are in the scientific service. From 1945 to 1965 the Bavarian State Library suffered from lack of accommodation and dispersal of its book stock, which resulted in a difficult and often uneconomic work flow. The Library now has accommodation for nearly 4+ million volumes and has ample room for expansion for a considerable period, although its additions total 100,000 annually. Its total seating accommodation is 816. It is the largest of the 11 state libraries maintained by the Bavarian State and occupies an area of nearly 500,000 square feet, over twice the present size of the largest provincial city library which serves some similar functions, although large extensions are planned for certain British cities.

Hanover

The State of Lower Saxony maintains separate state and university libraries in Hanover although the city also possesses an important city central library, the oldest library in Hanover.

When Hanover became the capital of the duchy of Brunswick, the later kingdom of Hanover, a court library was created in 1665. It flourished under Leibniz as a librarian and during the union with Great Britain under the Hanoverian dynasty was particularly sponsored by King George I and King George II. It has developed into the Landes- bibliothek (Lower Saxony State Library) of today (525,000 volumes 4200 manuscripts, 80,000 autographs, 3000 current periodicals; legal deposit since 1737 ; subjects: humanities, law, social sciences). The Lower Saxon Library School is attached to it. The Lower Saxon State Library performs some of the responsibilities which in Great Britain are exercised by the large city libraries.

The State of Lower Saxony also maintains in Hanover the Library of the Technical University ofHanover (Universitats-bibliothek, founded in 1831). It is being developed as the Central Technical Library of the Federal Republic of Germany (Technische Informationsbibliothek, created in 1959). It has become the foremost documentation centre of technology in West Germany (390,000 volumes, 150,000 theses and re- ports, 1,200,OOO patent specifications, 9800 current periodicals including

252 G. CHANDLER

several thousand from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Far East) subjects : mathematics, pure and applied science, technology).

The Library publishes title translations of Russian technical periodical articles. It provides an express information service and acts as national translation pool for translations of Soviet bloc publications in co- operation with the European Translations Centre in Delft.

The Federal Government does not only support the Technical Infor- mation Service at Hanover, but also maintains in Hanover the Library of the Federal Geological Institute (170,000 volumes, 2100 current periodicals). The biological sciences are represented by the libraries of several academies and colleges of university standing: the Library of the Veterinary Academy (Tieraerztliche Hochschule, founded in 1778; 45,000 volumes, 39,000 theses, 900 current periodicals), the Library of the Medical Academy (Medizinische Hochschule, founded in 1964; (30,000 volumes, 1200 current periodicals), the Library of the Faculty of Horticulture (20,000 volumes). Several other academies and colleges have their own libraries: the Pedagogical Academy (Paedagogische Hochschule; its library amalgamated with the Central Educational Library of Lower Saxony, 114,000 volumes).

Administrative libraries play an important part in Hanover as an administrative centre, the capital of the State of Lower Saxony (with an area somewhat larger and a population somewhat more numerous than that of Denmark or Switzerland). The city has more than 25 administrative libraries with a joint stock of 500,000 volumes. In the large British cities the equivalent of all these libraries would look to the large city libraries for assistance.

Cologne

Cologne is the largest city (860,000) in the state of Nordrhein- Westfalen ( 16.8 million) but the state capital is at Dusseldorf (684,000). The largest library in Cologne is called the University and City Library (1.5 million volumes) but this has become entirely a state responsibility. Its medical library is to be developed as a national special library, with the assistance of the Forschungsgemeinschaft. It maintains also the union catalogue of the learned libraries of Nordrhein-Westfalen, which deals with 800 to 1000 requests daily. It also houses the Library School of Nordrhein-Westfalen which has 420 students.

The University and City Library of Cologne was founded in 1920 when three older libraries were united: the Stadtbibliothek (City Library), the Bibliothek der Handelhochschule (Library of the Com- mercial College) and the Library of the Academy for Practical Medicine. In 1934 the collections were moved into the new university building in


the campus on the inner city periphery, but the medical library re- mained in the medical area. The erection of a new building for the university library was started in 1963 and was completed in 1967. During the first six months of 1968 its users totalled 13,750, its requests 309,167 and its lendings 184,426 (including 23,500 inter-library loans and 36,120 textbooks). These figures indicate that the so-called university and city library is not in fact in any serious way a city central library. This is not unexpected, for its situation on the inner city periphery is not calculated to attract use by the public, while the layout of its new building is dominated rightly by the needs of the university. This is possibly the reason why the state has agreed to accept complete financial responsibility for the library. Certainly I did not see any evidence that it was used by the public, except in a very special sense of the word.

The city of Cologne has recognized this and has decided to build a new city central library nearer to the commercial quarter and designed to meet the information and more practical day-to-day needs of a busy city. Work has not yet started on the new building, but a network of excellent branch libraries has been built up in the suburbs.

Frankfurt The state of Hessen meets only one-third of the running expenses of

the Frankfurt City and University Library, although this is almost ex- clusively a university library. The state pays, however, 50% of capital costs and lOOo/o of the cost of the Hessian Union Catalogue and the school of librarianship.

The director is at the same time librarian of the university and a member of the Library Commission of the University. The library grew out of the former library of the city council, which dates from the fifteenth century. It was established in its present form in 1944 by the merging of the city library with five other important libraries which had previously existed separately-the Library for Modern Languages and Literature, the Library for Art and Technology, the Central Library of the Uni- versity Clinics, and the Museum Library for Music and the Theatre. The City and University Library has a stock of over one million volumes.

The Frankfurt City and University Library also administers the Senckenberg Library which specializes in the natural sciences and medicine, containing nearly 400,000 volumes, exclusive of dissertations.

The German Research Council supports the Frankfurt City and University Library’s specialization in certain linguistic, literary and geographical fields, and in the theatre. The total staff is 152-16 librarians, 48 trained library assistants, and 88 sub-professional posts, similar to that of the largest British city central libraries.

254 G. CHANDLER

The new building was completed in 1965. It consists of a three-storey administration block with a basement, connecting blocks and three underground floors, and an 1 1-storey stack block, In all 23 million books can be shelved and there are three reading rooms for 900 readers. There is a modern spacious exhibition room.

Special grants have been received for the introduction of computerization.

In spite of its title the City and University Library of Frankfurt is only nominally a city library. It is situated on the periphery of the inner town removed from the commercial quarter, and its layout has been determined by the tradition of German universities and not by the needs of the public in general. This is recognized by the city to some extent, for the City Central Library is being developed to meet the growing demand for information of the general public.

Hamburg Hamburg is a city state comparable with the suggested city regions

which may well emerge in Great Britain as a result of local government reorganization, except that within the British city region there may be district councils with some responsibilities for libraries on the pattern adopted for local government reorganization in London.

As a city state, Hamburg’s libraries could be considered as state libraries or as city libraries. I have preferred to deal with them as state libraries because their organization reflects that of a state rather than a city.

Hamburg ranks with Berlin, Munich and Hanover in having an exceptionally wide range of libraries-far greater than that of any provincial English city. It is true that the Hamburg State and University Library (formerly the City Library) has to serve a dual function, but this is easier to do because of the existence of other important government and state supported libraries in the city.

In Hamburg the new State and University Library (formerly the City Library, founded in 1479) can house over two million volumes, with a possible 250,000 on open access. Its present stock is less than one million, so that there is considerable room for expansion. It has 880 seats for readers. Although it lies near the centre of the city and was formerly the city library, it is recognized that it cannot serve also the function of a city central library.

Hence the city state has decided to establish a City Central Library as soon as possible which would bring together the existing central libraries departments which are dispersed in temporary premises. These include a music library, which is the largest in West Germany next to


that in Munich. This Central Library would also serve as Headquarters of the city supported public libraries, which constitute probably the largest system of its kind in Germany and include some excellent new branch libraries.

The new City Central Library would also provide an information service for the general public, but would not be called upon to provide extensive commercial library facilities, or local history library facilities, as in British large city libraries, in view ofthe existence oflong-established libraries serving these fields. The Hamburg Commercial Library was founded in 1735 and contains nearly 100,OOOvolumes (formerly 188,000). The Hamburg State Archives was founded in 1267 and contains over 80,000 volumes and publishes scholarly historical studies.

There are also in Hamburg two research libraries of more recent date. The Hamburg Institute of World Economy was founded in 1908, contains a library of 500,000 books and over nine million newscuttings, and publishes several bibliographical and information periodicals; the Law Library of the Max-Planck Institute Hamburg contains over 100,000 volumes and occupies a new building.

THE CITIES

In Germany the City Central Libraries (Stadtbibliotheken) have in the past served a scholarly minority and were not public in the Anglo- Saxon sense of the word. Hence their conversion in a few cases to become university libraries or combined city research and university libraries has been achieved without the public protest which would inevitably have arisen if it had been proposed to remove a Scandinavian or a British or an American city library away to the campus of a university. For the Anglo-Saxon city central libraries are the most heavily used in the city and serve primarily an information function although they are also research and recreational libraries in some respects.

Most German cities still control their city central libraries and are tending to fuse them administratively with the popular public libraries (Stadtbiichereien) to make library systems on the Anglo-American Scandinavian pattern, e.g. Hanover, Munich. German cities which have allowed their central libraries to pass to the state or to the university are now having to face up to the building of new central libraries to meet the increasing need of their citizens for information, self education and self training and development, e.g. Cologne.

During my tour I was able to see at first hand the various types of central libraries maintained by cities and the extent to which they were:

256 G. CHANDLER

fulfilling the functions of public libraries as envisaged by the energetic new generation of German city librarians.

The aims of German public librarians to-day have been described in several publications which appeared immediately prior to the Frankfurt IFLA Council.

Die Ofintliche Bibliothek Auftrag und Verwirklichung, edited by F. Rakowski, the present director ofDuisburg Public Library, was published by the Deutscher Biichereiverband to mark the sixtieth birthday of his predecessor Wilhelm Schmidt-Veltin, and to form a background to the Conference in 1968 in Duisburg of German public librarians. It contains a number of essays on problems of importance to public libraries: A. Seeling, Oberbtirgermeister of Duisburg, writes on the Public Library in the Cultural Policy in the large city; Professor J. Kob, Professor of Sociology, discusses the role of the public library in society; Dr H. Siiberkrtib, director of the Bielefeld Public Library, follows with a dis- cussion of the duty, policy and future of the public library. Dr A. von MorzC, deputy director of the American Memorial Library in Berlin, examines whether there will be a public library tomorrow. Dr J. Schult- heis, director of the Bochum Public Library, discusses book selection. Horst Ernestus, deputy director of the Cologne Public Libraries, writes about the need to provide information services in public libraries. Dr W. Krieg describes the co-operative work achieved through the Association of Libraries in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Professor G. Pflug deals with a more specialized aspect of inter-library co-operation-special collections. One of the most significant of the articles is by H. Prinz of the Organization and Methods Unit of the City of Duisburg, for Duisburg is the most advanced of all German public libraries in the computerization of book issue and other records.

This book is remarkable for the emphasis which German public librarians place on the political and sociological mission of a public library. In Great Britain this tends to be taken for granted, because it has been spared in recent years the consequences of political or religious censorship.

Biicherei und Bilding for July to August 1968 was issued in honour of the Frankfurt IFLA Council and has articles surveying certain aspects of the work of various types of German libraries, including an article on the progress of public libraries since 1945 by R. Joerdan. He summarizes progress as follows :

“( 1) Quantitatively as well as qualitatively, the libraries’ book stocks have completely changed. Whereas after the war there was only one book for every ten inhabitants, there are now six books. The catchword for the qualitative changes in the library world was “information” a


concept which is explained in relation to the profession, to politics and in particular to the political structure of the Federal Republic. Seen from this angle, the task of the library consists in the provision of dependable information, which is to make as many citizens as possible capable of taking an active part in the political happenings of their country.

(2) After 1945, the open access system made ready headway throughout Germany. The attempt is made here to explain why the introduction of this system was delayed for so long in Germany, and why it then spread with such vigour. The explanation lies in the fact that here, longer than in other countries, authoritative attitudes prevailed. These were then overcome by the recognition that through the effects of science and technology upon our lives, more and more people have gained independence, and today refuse tutelage of any kind.”

I regret that the terms of reference of this report prevent my discussing the excellent public branch libraries which I saw in Germany, and the first class book lists and publicity issued by German public libraries.

The remarkable post-war development in German public libraries appears to be the first stage only, and I was privileged on my visits to specific libraries to see the energetic way in which the remaining problems were being attacked. Naturally, circumstances differ in each city, and the rate of progress varies with local circumstances. I was, however, convinced that all the city councils and their librarians were determined to bring their city central libraries at least up to the level of the best elsewhere and that it is only a matter of time before this is achieved. Germany will then not only have a finer range of national, state and academic libraries in its principal provincial cities, than are available now in English provincial cities, but also a comparable range of city central libraries. For there is no tendency to see the city central library as a replacement of the existing national, state and academic libraries which have different functions.

Hanover

In some ways Hanover (533,000 inhabitants) has set the pace for other German cities in its library provision, not least with its City Central Library and its system of branch libraries which have been developed and fused administratively into one unit. As a result, Hanover has achieved a high position among German libraries by the number of books and loans per head of population, and in other ways.

The Hanover City Central Library is among the oldest in Germany and was founded in 1440. After the First World War this was united with the branch library system. After the Second World War the Central Library was converted to open access which resulted, as elsewhere, in a

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big increase in the use of and demand for non-fictional works. Whereas the old city library was primarily humanistic, the demand in recent years has been for technical, scientific, commercial, political, legal works, etc. The stock of the Central Library rose from 175,000 in 1956 to 270,000 in 1965. Hence an extension to the library has become necessary and is to take place on an adjacent site. The number of readers rose from 7789 in 1956 to 11,053 in 1965, in spite of the building during the same period of a large new state library and a large new technical university library.

Although its building was not ideal for subject specialization, the Hanover City Central Library has been converted into a number of successful subject departments, for which the Lektoratsdienste-the specialists-are responsible. These cover: history; humanities; com- merce, technology and law; politics and sociology; science; literature; art; music; local history; rare books.

Munich

Munich is much richer in national and state-supported libraries than any British provincial city, but these libraries serve in the main minori- ties. They are not used by the general public in large numbers for information, self-training and self-education. Hence the city of Munich maintains a range of city central libraries and of branch and travelling libraries. The city has, however, fallen behind the other providers of libraries in Munich in the provision of new buildings, and the city collections are by far the worst housed in Munich. The city is aware of this and of the need to develop the city libraries with the branch libraries, but the proposal to build more adequate premises for the Central Library and the music library, the largest in Germany, and for the important local documents, has not yet been implemented.

The Munich City Central Library has recognized its duty to make its important collections known not only to the residents of Munich but also to a wider national and international public. One example is the recent publication of Appelle einer Revolution : Dockumente aus Bayern 1918- 19 (Munich, Stiddeutscher Verlag, 1968) a beautiful volume which re- produces some important documents in the city libraries.

The annual report of the Munich City Central Libraries for January- December 1967 reveals that they comprise the Central Library (273,000 volumes), the Law Library (22,000 volumes), the Monacensia Collection (Local History 65,821 items), the Philatelic Library (15,800 volumes), the Music Library (108,000 volumes), totalling in all 484,000 volumes. Loans totalled 2 18,000 for the year, readers 58,000. In the summary the director emphasized the need to convert more of the central libraries to


open access, and the need for a new central library which should have priority within the wider plans for the expansion of adult education.

Berlin Berlin is fortunate in possessing a range of modern public libraries.

The libraries of the 12 districts of Berlin are separately administered, so that a centralized public library system on the model of Hanover, Duisburg and other German cities has not yet been realized. This is not unexpected. For the recent reorganization of London public libraries stopped short of creating a centralized system on the New York pattern.

The Amerika Gedenkbibliothek, the largest public library in Berlin, is on two main floors, with parts extending upwards for two further floors. Floor 1 (basement) contains the stacks and the children’s library, and local history.

Floor 2 (ground floor) offers open access to a large book stock arranged in subject groups. In the centre of Floor 2 are information and general reference books. On one side of this is the youth library and the section for novels and general literature. On the other side are: Geisteswissen- schaften, roughly the equivalent of Dewey 100 (philosophy), 200 (religion), 900 (history); Naturwissenschaften, etc., the equivalent of 300 (social sciences), 500 ( science), 600 (technology) ; and 700 (fine arts) J and 870 (music), with excellent recital rooms.

On Floor 3 are the book purchasing, accessioning rooms, etc. On Floor 4 the rooms for the subject specialists, the director and general administration.

The annual report of the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek for 1967 reveals that the book stock had increased to 368,000 volumes. Annual loans totalled 728,000. Sixty per cent of the users were students. The staff comprised 45 librarians, 49 library technicians and 68 others-similar to that of a large British central library in a principal city, but the latter would have also to discharge the functions of a state library and of other libraries.

Br4emen Bremen is the smallest of the German states, with a population of

750,000, of which some 600,000 are in the city of Bremen. The State Library there is being used as the kernel of the new University. The Central Public Library is noted for its music section, while there are a number of excellent new branch libraries, and a chain of school and children’s libraries, in which Bremen plays a leading role.

The Bremen City Libraries have played a significant part in the

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development of German public libraries. It is true that the city has not yet been able to build a purpose-built central library, but temporary premises have been obtained, from which a comprehensive system of suburban and children’s libraries is administered.

The layout of the Bremen Central Library is not dissimilar to that of the Amerika Gedenkbibliothek, except that it must operate in a building on six levels which I will call 1 to 6.

On Floor 1 is information, catalogues, bibliographies, etc. On Floor 2, literature. Floor 3 contains approximately the equivalent of Dewey 100 (philosophy), 200 (religion), 900 (history), 700 (art). Floor 4 contains roughly the equivalent of Dewey 300 (social sciences), 500 (science), 600 (technology). Floor 5 is devoted to an excellent music library with studios and no less than 39 music periodicals and a small exhibition gallery. Floor 6 contains the newspapers and periodicals.

D&burg The Duisburg Central Public Library, is an excellent example of

what the modern German public library has achieved. It offers open access to over 100,000 volumes.

On the first floor is the quick reference collection to answer inquiries. Beyond that is the issue desk with computerization of records and a control gate. Behind this is a lift and staircases leading to three higher floors.

On the second floor is the children’s library and literature, two of the most popular sections. The third floor houses approximately the equivalent of the Dewey 000 (general), 900 (history), 100 (philosophy), 200 (religion), 400 (languages), 700 (art), and 780 (music) classes. The music section has notable studies for listening to records. On the fourth floor is the equivalent of Dewey 300 (sociology), 500 (science) and 600 (technology). On the fifth floor are administrative offices.

A few months prior to the Frankfurt IFLA Council, the Duisburg Central Library published a memorable handbook. It includes a pre- face by the Oberbtirgermeister of Duisburg, and chapters on its history, the central library (information, extra-mural loans, education, Music Library and Technical Central Library), the branch libraries; the public library and automation; organization plan, statistics and hours of opening.

An interesting feature is the list of bibliographies, dictionaries and handbooks in the library; and a list of periodicals, newspapers and serials.

Because Duisburg is not the seat of a state or university library the Central Library has particularly heavy responsibilities. It is, however,


recognized by the state as the Central Technical Library for public libraries of more than 20 middle-sized towns in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Issues from the Duisburg City Central Library in 1967 totalled 462,963, including 122,624 children’s books, and 127,43 1 literature (including novels). The total stocks of the Central Library was 136,000 volumes. Quick reference books totalled 5384. Six hundred periodicals are taken.

The staff of the Central Library totalled 53: 23 librarians and 30 assistants allocated to the following six departments : information ; humanities; technology, etc; history, etc; music; children’s. This staff is about twice the size of that for a British public library of comparable size and use, but less than that of a British central library in a comparable city, for this would discharge more of the research function of a state library.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After my tour of German libraries and the study of recent literature on them, I came to certain conclusions on the library needs in large cities, which should, I think, be considered in planning the further development of library services :

111) The central government should take an increasingly active part in the co-ordination of library services and, while maintaining adequate national library services in the capital, should ensure that the large provincial cities are adequately served by as wide a range of city libraries as is necessary. It should spread its research library resources by establishing special national libraries in provincial cities, as in Germany, or by grant-aiding existing City Central Libraries in provincial cities to permit them to perform a general research function in certain appropriate fields, in addition to their information function.

112) Large city central libraries are necessary, as in Great Britain, to provide the general public with information and the facilities for self education, self training and self development. When a city library is called upon to serve the hinterland, the central government should support its services financially.

113) It is not possible for a national, state or city central library to effectively discharge all the functions of an academic research library. An academic research library must, to be effective, be organized to meet the research needs of departments and must be on the campus, and in many cases must be dispersed to some extent in the various departmental libraries.

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(4) Close collaboration between the various types of libraries in cities should be ensured. A city is the richer for having separate national, state, city central, and academic libraries, but only if their resources are developed in a co-operative way. The state or city central library should be responsible for advising on this co-ordination in particular cities. The central government should be responsible for ensuring that this co-ordination takes place. This can be effectively achieved by judicious use of governmental grants. The alternative of creating a large centralized apparatus for detailed control would be undesirable, expensive, and might be dangerous.

Documents

The German library system: Libraries in large cities