Libraries in Germany – Expert Discussion

The public debate on lifelong learning has resulted in new forms of cooperation between further education and cultural institutions in many of Germany’s cities – with more and more of them operating under one roof.

One centre for lifelong learning open to all the citizens of Potsdam – that’s the project to which both Marion Mattekat and Roswitha Voigtländer have devoted themselves. Marion Mattekat is the director of the City and State Library, while Roswitha Voigtländer is the director of the adult education centre (VHS).

“In today’s knowledge society, learning is no longer seen solely as a matter for schools and the vocational and higher education system”, explains Ms Mattekat, who has been at the helm of the City and State Library since 2001. “Our aim is to create an environment conducive to learning – outside the institutional education framework – which offers an inspiring atmosphere and learning opportunities to meet all kinds of different needs.”

When in early 2013 the library and the VHS move into a joint building in the centre of Potsdam, the fairly loose cooperation which has so far existed between the two institutions will become a much closer conceptual collaboration involving the sharing of resources and know-how.

Various models for cooperation

In many cities in Germany, libraries these days cooperate with other institutions of further and continuing education. Various models for cooperation have emerged: collaboration on individual projects or events, long-term projects and joint strategic planning, and even mergers between institutions and cooperation within a joint organizational structure.

The number of examples of physical integration of a city’s educational and cultural institutions is continuing to rise. Although physical proximity does not necessarily go hand in hand with very close cooperation, it does in many cases facilitate closer collaboration between institutions. This in turn gives rise to many new services and offerings which an institution would not be able to provide in this form on its own.

Sharing one building

Ever since 2004, for example, all services in the domain of culture and continuing education in Unna (North Rhine-Westphalia) have been united under one roof. At the Centre for Information and Education (ZIB for short) at Lindenplatz, the VHS, the city library, the city archive, the cultural authority and the city info point can be found on three floors with a total area of well over 5,000 square metres.

At the ZIB, the library and the VHS share one organizational area and one director, namely Rita Weißenberg. “I believe that it makes a lot of sense as far as intensive cooperation is concerned for these two institutions – despite their very different areas of core business – to be run by the same person”, says Weißenberg. “The fact that I know what is going on in both organizations is, quite simply, an advantage.”

“Learning point” for all

The self-learning centre at the ZIB is seen as an excellent example of cooperation between the library and the VHS. Although the “learning point” is operated by the VHS, it is also used by the library – for purposes such as research and career guidance and by people preparing a thesis or presentation.

Thanks to the educational partnership between the library and the eight secondary schools in Unna, pupils from certain years regularly come to the library to attend a two- to three-hour course on “research and media skills”. “Ever since we launched the educational partnership with the VHS”, explains Weißenberg, “a very large number of pupils have become library users.” Indeed, nearly fifty percent of pupils in Unna use the library today.

What is more, the library has built up a collection of self-learning materials tailored to the courses on offer at the VHS. “In certain areas, such as German as a foreign language, we have also developed special library tours which we offer the VHS course participants. This gives students the chance right at the beginning of their course to discover how they can use the library for their own needs”, explains Rita Weißenberg.

Innovative structures in centres of learning

The ZIB in Unna is part of the Centres of Learning working group run by the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) and Stuttgart Media University (HdM). The working group shares experiences of innovative cooperation structures and new educational services for the general public.

The working group also has four other partners: the culture and education centre Das Tietz in Chemnitz, which unites the VHS, the city library, the museum of natural history and the Neue Sächsische Galerie (New Saxon Gallery); the Südpunkt in Nuremberg, where the education centre and city library work together with the local culture and leisure authority; Kultur 123 in Rüsselsheim, where the VHS, municipal cultural office, theatre and music school have been brought together to form an educational campus, and finally the Wissensturm in Linz (Austria), a cooperative venture between the VHS, the city library, a media workshop and a centre of learning.

Potential savings and added value

The planners in Potsdam are also hoping to achieve the synergetic effects that their joint “education forum” promises. “Before the project started, a calculation of profitability was carried out to assess the buildings situation. The positive result of this analysis was what ultimately persuaded the decision-makers to go ahead”, says Marion Mattekat. “For us, however, the added value the project will bring for the people of Potsdam is the primary focus. Together we can, quite simply, enhance the quality of our service offering.”