Hallo everyone,

This morning I ventured back to the Freie Universitaet, this time to the Philology Library to speak with Frau Diecks. Because it is primarily a faculty library, there were slightly different topics discussed as compared to the Main Library.

The library building itself is fairly new and it is an amazing work of architecture. Because of the layout of the campus, when planning began, the architect was told that the library would have to fit into the courtyard. He came up with a dome shape with 5 levels, one below ground. Each floor comes near to the dome but never touches. The edges of each floor are lined by thin tables to maximize the number of students can use the space. The middle of each floor holds the stacks.

This may have you wondering…’What about group study spaces?’ Amazingly, there is only one group study room. It is located on the way out of the library through a basement tunnel. In the mid 90’s, when the library was being planned, group space was not as popular as it is in the present day.

This being said, the library is still one of the most used on campus. Many students prefer it to the main library. This led to some problems during the weeks prior to exams. Because all of the Philology students would be studying, there would not be enough room for others to come in. Although it caused some political challenges, the library decided to close the library to outsiders during these busy weeks in order to better serve their main user group.

The library was planned to only hold the current number of volumes. This, of course, means that when the school wants to develop the collection it must first weed it. There are actually some student volunteers that help the library weed the collection. They then hold a book sale, the profits of which are used to buy books that are of interest of the students. This is a change, because it is usually faculty who shape the direction of the collection development.

I found that the biggest downside to the library was that the shape of the dome accentuates noise levels. Therefore, if you talk on one side, you can be heard nearly everywhere. This makes the library a great place to read or work alone, but any type of collaboration is hard without being disruptive.

More to follow,

Jeremy