PEOPLE
Board for over 30 years and from 1998 played a key role as the Book Reviews Editor.
For a number of years John ran the London based ‘Comput-
ers in Libraries’ International conference and was very much involved in the running of an equivalent conference in Lisbon. John’s knowledge meant he was also very much in demand to advise and teach abroad, including in countries as far afield as Brazil and Afghanistan.
When he ’retired’, John remained active, teaching the use Horst Ernestus L
ibrarian, library director, bridge builder between association work, teaching and interdisciplinary practice – this is a brief description of Horst Ernestus’ personality. After a life that was full of work right up to the end, he passed away in Wuppertal on 20 March 2023 at the age of 97.
Many of his ideas still shape library thinking and action in Germany today, for example the idea of an inviting public library that shows transparency on the outside and remains flexible on the inside. Ernestus brought this concept with him to Germany from the Anglo-American sphere, as well as an understanding of the importance of lobbying, inter- national networking and public relations with reach. The career
of this great “pointsman of his generation” was marked by three major life themes: England, shipping, library. Born in Berlin, Ernestus trained as a navy officer during the war. Ernestus put his love of shipping into practice, for example, when he set up the “book ship”, the central children’s library of the Wuppertal public library, of which he was the head librarian from 1973 to 1990. With the help of a crane, real nautical equipment was moved into the premises at that time, which gave the children’s library its brand name known throughout the city.
Another important influence was travel, for example to the USA and England, using his excellent language skills. Ernestus gave lectures on the service-oriented attitude of librarians of these countries to German librarians. Ernestus actively shaped the German library system in the post-war period,publishing lectures, essays and writing books on the construction, equipment and the management of public libraries. He taught for several years at the then Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences), now the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) of Cologne. To this day, the title Das Bibliothekswesen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (published in English in 1972 and 1983 under
the title Libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany), which he wrote together with Gisela von Busse, later with Engelbert Plassmann, is considered a standard work. Ernestus was the first managing director of the Deutscher Bücherverband (German Library Association, now Deutscher Bibliotheksverband) - reactivated after the Sec- ond World War. Ernestus was also involved in the Audio- visual Commission of the then German Library Institute, in the Roundtable AV Media of the IFLA, the German UNESCO Commission and in the advisory board of the Goethe Institute. Ernestus was especially proud to be a fellow of the CILIP. Before joining the German library association, Ernestus worked at the Amerika-Gedenk-Bibliothek (America Memorial Library) in West Berlin, where he focused on the reference service based on the Anglo-Saxon model. Ernestus returned “back to practice” in 1964 as deputy director of the Cologne public library and dedicated himself to the introduction of Audiovisual media into the lending stock of West German public libraries, thus paving the way for later expansions of library collections beyond the medium of books. In 1973, he moved to the Wuppertal City Library as director. Here, the task was to merge the various library forms of the city – academic city library, public library and independent children’s and district libraries – into a modern metropolitan library system. He worked closely with Dieter Stäglich, the director of the library of the University of Wuppertal to make the city’s library landscape fit for the future. Horst Ernestus lived with his wife until shortly before his death. He pursued his interests – taking and exhibit- ing photogrpahs, writing texts and poems in German and English. He is survived by his wife of more than 65 years, Ursula (a graduate librarian), and his two sons. As his successor in office, I was always pleased to receive his visits. Occasionally he would combine errands in town with a cup of coffee in the library and a friendly exchange on developments. He used his influence with library patrons to support new library services and projects. We we owe a great deal to Horst Ernestus.
Cordula Gladrow, Director, Wuppertal City Library
For obituary submissions and guidance please email
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk with subject “obituary”, or write to us at Obituaries, CILIP, Room 150, c/o British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB.
June 2023 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 53
of computers to older people at Age Exchange, Blackheath. Those who knew him will remember John as a true professional but also one of the most warm hearted and generous people you could ever hope to meet.
Terry Beck, formerly Senior Lecturer, London Metropol- itan University. Nat Lievesley, formerly Senior Lecturer, London Metropolitan University and Lucy Tedd, Editor of Program 1984-2011.
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