Visiting Halle an der Saale and Leipzig’s town hall, and admiring the mobile libraries.
an der Saale. I was particularly excited to visit Halle, having spent a year working there as a student. My first stop, though, was the law library of the University of Leipzig, tucked away on the top floor of a shopping and office complex in the city centre. While the tour I had planned to arrange had fallen through, I was able to wander through the library and take a look at the collection and space. The library was opened in 2001, and since then the number of students in the Faculty of Law has more than doubled. Indeed, when I got to the library it already seemed very busy for a Friday morning!
I had time for a quick stop at the Alber- tina library, the University of Leipzig’s main library for arts and humanities. The library suffered serious damage from air raids during the Second World War and the ruined right wing remained unused till the late 90s, when it was rebuilt to create a breathtaking new reading room filled with natural light. After a (very cheap!) coffee in the cosy library cafe, I jumped
44 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
on the train to Halle. The law library at the University of Halle-Wittenberg sits directly on the green University Square, in the modern Juridicum building. Elements of the building like the concrete features and tiered design reminded me of the IALS/Institute of Education building, so I felt right at home. I was given a tour by Annegret Staudte, one of the librarians, who welcomed me warmly and spoke to me about the library’s rules and history. Like its counterpart in Leipzig, the library is struggling to keep up with the ever-grow- ing number of students in the Faculty of Law, and there can even be students sitting on the floor – though this is partly because students from other faculties flock to the library to work with a beauti- ful view over the rooftops of Halle.
Welcome opportunity
I’d like to thank the John Campbell Trust for the opportunity to attend the conference and learn so much about the library world in Germany. I returned to
London exhausted, but inspired by the presentations I’d seen and the people I’d met. I could never have imagined when starting my first library job that this kind of experience would be open to me at such an early point in my career. When applying for the bursary, it was with a sense of “well, why not – I probably won’t get it anyway”, so the news that I had been awarded the bur- sary came as a very welcome surprise! I would encourage anyone who has the chance to apply for an overseas travel bursary, especially new professionals. It is fascinating to compare and contrast attitudes, practices and problems between the UK and other countries, and I feel that in an increasingly globalised, dig- ital world we must be outward looking and prepared to learn from our col- leagues abroad – and vice versa. For further information about the John Campbell Trust bursaries includ- ing details of how to apply, visit https://
www.cilip.org.uk/page/JohnCampbellTrust IP
April-May 2019
Leipzig Cummings
pp42-44.indd 6
25/04/2019 10:54
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
