German Libraries: A Portrait: Baden-Württemberg

With innovative spirit and creativity, the city library of Biberach an der Riß has met the changing needs of library users with constantly new offerings. It has therefore been chosen “Library of the Year 2009”.

About halfway between Lake Constance and Ulm lies the city of Biberach. It is the home of Germany’s oldest amateur theatre society and the largest and oldest children’s theatre. But this is not all that the 32,000 inhabitants of the city in Upper Swabia have to be proud of: the city library has regularly landed for years now at the top of German libraries in performance comparisons.

Now it has been chosen “Library of the Year”. The award, conferred by the German Library Association, Die Zeit Foundation and Gerd Bucerius, is endowed with 30,000 euros and is being given for the tenth time.

Fun with reading and learning

If you ask Frank Raumel, director of the library, what is special about his media and information centre, he points to his staff of sixteen: “I’m proud of our team. Together we look forward into the future and seek solutions to the problems of our users”. The prize jury particularly lauded the library “as an ideal example in the pioneering of libraries as places for life-long, self-directed learning”.

The Biberach library fosters pleasure in reading and media and information competence in children, young people and adults in multifarious ways. Under the title “Reading and Learning: All Life Long”, it has developed about forty group-specific offerings, ranging from reading groups for adults with small children and storybook cinema to media and experimental boxes for schools, stimulating library explorations (pirate trips, detective story tours) and research training courses for elderly people.

Competent partner for schools

The Biberach City Library cooperates with cultural institutions, kindergartens and schools in the city. It enjoys a particularly close association with Biberach’s two high schools. “We designed and set up the media library used by the students and teachers at both schools”, says Raumel.

The 300 square metres media library is a non-public branch of the City Library. “We offer there narrative literature to foster the pleasure in reading, but also of course information media that assist school studies”. The use of the media library is a mandatory part of the school curriculum and is integrated into everyday instruction. To this purpose, the City Library has developed a training concept for media education in eight modules.

A library for all generations

Frank Raumel and his team also have their eye on the smallest potential library users. “Currently a first model for a kindergarten library is up and running”, reports the library director. “Here we see a big opportunity to reach households unfamiliar with books: when the kids bring home books from kindergarten and ask mum or dad to read something to them.”

The Biberach City Library is particularly interested in meeting the needs of elderly people. “We offer regular tours during which we explain how the library works – for example, our self-check-out procedure and research in the electronic catalogue. In this way we attempt to help people overcome certain inhibitions.” The Library also makes available a whole assortment of aids such as reading lenses and magnifying glasses. In addition, it provides media boxes to institutions for the elderly.

Plans for the future

Frank Raumel would like to use the prize money from the award above all to expand and further strengthen the collaboration with the Biberach City Library’s educational partners. He envisages the Library becoming a place for self-organised learning – for adults as well as for pupils.

Beginning in 2009, according to Raumel, the Biberach adult education centre will offer educational counselling in the Library’s rooms. “The counselling will help inform people about, for instance, how they can better their professional opportunities – and our media can aid them in taking the first steps”.

For years now the City Library team has successfully taken into account the fact that the library, in midsummer, is not always the first choice as the place to pass the day. “In good weather we set up a booth at the outdoor swimming pool”, says Raumel. And what if someone doesn’t have his library card with him? “He can give us his bathing slippers as security.”