German Libraries: A Portrait - Brandenburg

In February 2005, the Information, Communication and Media Center (ICMC) at Brandenburg Technical University, Cottbus, celebrated its move into its spectacular new premises. Now, less than two years later, it has another good reason to celebrate: it has just been designated "Library of the Year 2006".

An amoeba is a single-celled animal which constantly changes shape. The curvilinear forms typical of these amorphous creatures were the inspiration for Basle-based architects Herzog & de Meuron when they came to design Brandenburg Technical University's new library. In keeping with this natural form, it is not immediately obvious which is the front and which is the rear of the building. Inside, too, the seven upper and two basement levels of the library are all different in design: only their external form stays the same.

An innovative approach: creating proximity between areas

But it is not only the design of the academic library – with its brightly coloured spiral staircase coiling upwards – which is unique; so too is its organisational form. The Information, Communication and Media Center (ICMC) at Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus creates close proximity between areas which other universities have traditionally kept apart – in both physical and institutional terms. Behind the milky glass façade, imprinted with letters from many alphabets, the library, multimedia centre, computer centre and data processing unit all work hand in hand.

The "innovative, integrated concept of information and media supply" also convinced the jury responsible for awarding Germany's only national award for excellence in the library sector: the "Library of the Year" award, presented by the German Library Association and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, a foundation dedicated to promoting research and scholarship, the arts and culture, education and teaching. In summer 2006, the jury unanimously voted to designate Brandenburg Technical University's Information, Communication and Media Center "Library of the Year".

Actively developing computer-based learning support services

The jury was especially impressed by the "multimedia working and information environment in the new ICMC building, a 7630 sq. m space whose work and reading areas include around 700 work stations for the BTU's students and teachers, but which is also accessible to local people from Cottbus and the wider region. Every work station has Internet access via wireless and landlines".

The Cottbus university library is increasingly becoming a centre for eLearning as well. Through the elearn@BTU project, the aim is to embed multimedia teaching and learning as an integral element of the study courses offered by the University by 2008. One project which prepared the ground for this innovative move over the last few years was the eL-IT project, in which eLearning modules were developed and trialled for the information, communication and media technology courses between 2001 and 2004. And in pursuit of the same goal, a decision was taken in early 2004 to set up a University Network for Multimedia and eLearning in Brandenburg, with the central coordination point based at ICMC.

Cooperation across national borders

The library's cooperation extends beyond regional and national borders as well. For example, Cottbus is working with partners at the University of Zielona Góra on establishing a German-Polish virtual study and research library. Both BTU Cottbus and Uniwersytet Zielonogórski, around 80 km away, offer studies in mathematics, IT, engineering, economics and environmental sciences so the foci of the two libraries' stock development activities overlap. The aim is therefore to ensure that students and academics have access to both these libraries' entire media stock in future. In Cottbus alone, this means a total of around 800,000 physical and electronic media.

Users can already research the stocks of both libraries in parallel via the BTU's InfoGuide library portal. The ICMC also provides Polish-language brochures and guided tours to inform potential users in the neighbour country about opportunities to access the library's services.

Open to everyone

The library is not only open to academics and students. It is no coincidence that the new building is located mid-way between the campus and Cottbus town. The fact that it has no clearly defined front or rear side sends out a signal that the library is intended to be accessible to the university and the city and region alike. Since the new library premises opened, the number of non-university users has increased fourfold.

This is undoubtedly due in part to the regular training sessions and guided tours run by the library to promote media and information skills. These cater for students and academics at the BTU but some are especially targeted to school children or senior citizens, for example. Anyone from Cottbus and the region who is interested in using the library can take part in the tours as well as in many other activities – such as open days and exhibitions – and thus gain a good insight into everything that this modern technological and academic library has to offer. And the University library is justifiably proud of the fact that it has been recognised as one of 365 designated landmarks in the "Germany – Land of Ideas" image campaign.

The "Library of the Year 2006" is a landmark of ideas which never fails to confront the challenges of the future. As the jury said, it is "setting new benchmarks for access to multimedia worlds of knowledge" – thus living up to its reputation as a place of constant change.