My Library
Our Favourite Spot – the Library

While our thoughts may roam free, the author of this article cannot. The writer has been in and out of prison. On each stint inside, he worked in prison libraries, first in the Münster Correctional Facility, and now in the Fröndenberg Correctional Hospital. 

Alexandra has been regularly going to the Monaliesa Feminist Library. The translator and author started a reading club there – in her opinion the Monaliesa from its history is the perfect place. 

For translators Marcelo and Nina, the library of the EÜK (European Translators' College) in Straelen is the place of their dreams. No wonder, because they can even spend the night in the library.

Once a week, retired teacher Renate A. uses the music room at Nuremberg's Municipal Library to practise for her choir. She says it is like being back at school, but with the roles reversed.

Waldemar has a passion for science fiction literature. For him the Fantastic Library in Wetzlar has for years been a paradise – with one tiny catch. 

Since his accident Stefan Debus has not been able to see. Nevertheless, books are an important part of his life – thanks to the Deutsche Zentralbücherei für Blinde/DZB in Leipzig.

Mercedes P. from Bilbao is studying for her exam as a teacher for Spanish, DaF (German as a foreign language) and DaZ (German as a second language). The necessary leisure and more can be found in the Antonio Gamoneda Library in Frankfurt am Main.


 

The historian, Dietmar Bleidick, has been using the Library of the Ruhr for nearly twenty years. Its collection focusing on the past and present of the Ruhr area is unique in Europe. That, however, is not the only reason why it is so very special.
 

A small piece of France in the middle of Hamburg - German born Christian P. regularly visits the Médiathèque of the Institut français and not only finds books there, but also a chance to keep in touch with his neighbouring country.

Andrea D. discovered the patients' library in the spring of 2017. Like many people who are critically ill, she was left alone with her thoughts. Reading took her mind off the fear and helped her focus on new things.

While still at school, Nouf Khalifeh liked nothing better than to spend time at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, even during her school holidays. She is now studying medicine and still benefiting from the library’s services.

A retired teacher, Mirta E. has an extensive private library. She visits the “Casa de la lectura” mainly because it offers her an opportunity to chat to like-minded people and learn new things.

Whenever the student Ekaterina feels like reading her favourite writers, she visits the Gogol Library. There she can read for hours and exchange ideas with other lovers of literature.

 My name is Aviah and I'm twelve years old. Since I've been able to read, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on: newspapers, advertising texts, comics and, of course, books.

Anna L. was familiar with several branches of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library in Budapest because her mother worked as a librarian there. Now a student, she also visits the library’s magnificent main building on a regular basis.

Gladys Fontana already lost her heart to the Biblioteca Santa Genoveva in the Paraná Delta while still a child. She always remained faithful to the library. Now that she has retired, she takes part in workshops on the library boat Bibliolancha.

Iva can't imagine her life without a library. She visits the Education and Research Library of the Pilsen Region several times a week - either the magnificent main building or the extensive department of foreign libraries.

While studying humanities at university, Harald S. strayed into the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (National Library) in Potsdamer Platz in 1985 – a wrong turn with consequences. Since then, he has been happily burrowing there into the recondite and exploring the useless.  

Sibylle Itzerott analyses satellite data that has been gathered about the earth. Her work benefits from the library of the Research Centre for Geosciences. Not just because of the fact that the history of surveying started there.

Pauline B. studies in the Berlin district of Mitte – a mere cock’s stride away from the “Grimm”. She was particularly taken with the spectacular reading terraces. Nevertheless she still has to put up with a few inconveniences.

Sofia G. from Munich loves movies, both privately and professionally. For her, the library of the University of Television and Film is a cinematic land of milk and honey – and one that will be there for her her whole life.

Lunes is seven years old and already a regular member of the municipal library in Königs Wusterhausen. He finds the place simply perfect. Well, almost!

Through friends, Daniela became aware of the Portuguese reading meeting in Frankfurt. Since then she has regularly participated in the project at the children’s library, listening or reading aloud to the children.

For these 15-year-old girls and boys, the path to their library can sometimes mean a stormy walk along the beach for it is situated on an island, way up in the north of Germany.

The artist, Katharina Wibmer, has literally turned the new municipal library on Mailänder Platz in Stuttgart upside down. In her video installation, Die Biblioskopin, she explores the unusual building and, while doing so, she creates her own architectural fantasies.

The eighteen-year-old Syrian Ghaith A. has been living in Munich since 2016. He has become a regular at the Public Library in Giesing. He had never before been in a library.

The Syrian, Mohammed Bakr, has lived in Hamm since 2015. Since then he has been actively using the library's range of intercultural services – first for language learning, now for his professional training. He has even organised a group for refugees to practice speaking German together.
 

Sandra Stephan lives with her family in a village in Brandenburg. Nature at its best, the only drawback – the nearest library is far away. That is why the days when the Library Bus comes to the village are marked red on the calendar.

Jan F. is a pupil and has been using Cologne’s Central Library since his childhood. In the last few years, he has been mostly hopping between the 3-D printer and the shelves with the computer science literature.

Sigrid D. has always been interested in literature. The fact, however, that she experiences authors up close in real life readings at Flensburg Municipal Library is a very special pleasure for her.