Libraries in Germany – Conservation

In its memorandum entitled “Preserving the Future”, the Alliance for the Preservation of Written Cultural Treasures calls for a national preservation scheme. The general director of the Berlin State Library, Barbara Schneider-Kempf, explains why the preservation of original manuscripts, archived objects and printed matter must be promoted more efficiently.

Ms Schneider-Kempf, at the end of April 2009 you handed over a memorandum entitled “Preserving the Future” to Germany’s Federal President. Why is preservation a national challenge?

First of all, because it is a question of preserving our national cultural heritage. Furthermore, due to the large size of the collections currently kept in the archives and libraries, their preservation can no longer be guaranteed by these institutions alone. What is needed here is a national effort.

Are the regional activities that already exist not enough? They range, after all, from spectacular rescue operations to book adoption schemes...

I believe that the collections can be preserved in a much more effective manner if they are viewed from a national perspective. Of course, this does not mean that the Federal Government should be solely responsible for the task – this would also be contrary to our federal constitution.

In our view, the way historical monuments are preserved is the right way forward: in this area regional activities take place throughout the country, but are coordinated by a single body and thus develop a quite different momentum.

Divided responsibilities for preservation

What exactly are you calling for?

We are calling for a coordinated approach at Federal Government and Land level. Some of the Länder are excellent in terms of preservation. Saxony is one such example. However, this is far from the case in all of Germany’s states.

So what needs to be preserved?

It is not possible to preserve everything. That would not be feasible. We thought about how it might be possible to divide up responsibilities, i.e. who should preserve what and where. There are clear guidelines here. All originals dating back to before 1850, for instance, should be preserved. For everything that was produced later, we have designated specific libraries as responsible. This division of responsibilities is based on the libraries’ own areas of specialization, on the Virtual German National Library, the “collection of German prints” and the special collections.

But you are also asking for money...

Yes, that is the unavoidable consequence. We are asking for 10 million euros per year. That is twice as much as we estimate is currently being made available for preservation.

Digitalization is no panacea

Given the problems of acid decay, ink corrosion and mould damage, how quickly does something need to be done?

I do not believe there is any point in depicting horror scenarios. One thing is quite certain, however – if in the long term we do not do more than in the past, we will suffer losses.

In the next decades, all historical printed works are to be made available in digitalized form. Is digitalization a panacea?

No. Digitalization merely supplements the preservation of the original documents, but is not an alternative to it. We can use digitalization to protect highly sensitive and valuable materials. Once the contents are available in digital form, use of the originals can be greatly reduced – but this in no way replaces the original.

To what extent can Germany take its lead from the strategies pursued by other countries?

It is difficult to make comparisons. Unlike countries such as Great Britain and France, we do not have a national library in Germany – or at least not in the sense of one institution housing all the written cultural treasures from past centuries. In Germany, everything is distributed among different libraries.

Disasters sensitize

What do you believe are the chances of success of your initiative?

It’s hard to say. You can’t expect people to be wildly enthusiastic if you come to them with such demands.

On the other hand, a certain awareness of the subject of preservation has developed as a result of the two terrible disasters that have occurred in recent years, the fire in the Anna Amalia Library in Weimar in 2004 and the collapse of the Cologne City Archive in 2009. I hope that we will be able to generate additional attention in cooperation with our great ally, Federal President Horst Köhler. I also hope that this attention will ultimately be reflected in support for our causes.