About Babyinger

Since the 1990s, the image of public libraries in cities and communities, which are mostly municipal, often also church-run, has changed significantly under the influence of social, technological and media developments. In contrast to the academic libraries, ie the university, state and special libraries, the public libraries pursue a mission that does not focus on individual user groups or special subject areas, but is committed to the needs of a broad public – priority areas and focused individual target groups are not locked out. As a result, they are also subject in a special way to cultural changes and the spatial developments of cities and rural regions (Philip 2002:3).

With their wide range of information, media and services, the public are moving in an environment that is shaped by social milieus that are becoming more differentiated, demographic change, rising book prices, an expanding market for digital and virtual media, and last but not least a rapidly growing need for education. In many large, medium-sized and small town areas, libraries as a low-threshold infrastructure facility for all social classes and age groups are a much-used contact, provider of knowledge and social meeting place that satisfies a wide variety of information and entertainment needs. Quantitatively, they have long been the most-visited municipal cultural facility.

Number of libraries

If in 2018 around 3,900 of the 11,254 communities in Germany had a municipal public library (with around 4,980 library locations including branches) – that’s around 44% of all local authorities (German library statistics DBS 2017), then that’s a very respectable number. However, to speak of a dense network of libraries here would be unrealistic. And the fact that less than half of them are professionally managed full-time, while the majority consists of volunteers and part-time workers with often less professional expertise, is another fact, the latter especially in rural areas and communities with fewer than five thousand inhabitants.

The approximately 3,300 mostly smaller, 98% volunteer-led church should not go unmentioned public libraries, which almost exclusively in small-town and rural areas outside of metropolitan areas contribute to improving the network structure and thus the politically hoped-for equal supply of all settlement areas: In this way it is achieved that around 73% of all communities have a public library is, albeit with very different sizes and capabilities. In metropolitan areas, the existing structures (opening hours, media inventory, staff and financial resources) and library expansion are generally better than the national average, while in rural areas they are significantly less developed – the undeniable urban-rural divide is particularly noticeable in the library sector.

A few more figures for illustration: Of the 11,254 municipalities that exist nationwide, 10,554 municipalities have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants* (= 93.8% of all municipalities), and there are around 7,000 municipalities with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants* (= 62.2% of all municipalities). While around 45.3 million people live in the remaining 700 municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants, there are 37.6 million people in the small towns and other rural regions, which makes for a total of 82.9 million people living in Germany proportionately 45.4% (cf. Statista 2018). The topic dealt with here in rural areas is therefore of direct relevance for at least one third of the German population and for two thirds of all municipalities.

Cultural Education in Libraries

Offers of cultural education, however, at first glance, they hardly appear to be specifically identified as such in the profile picture of many public libraries. This may be due to the fact that the term is not adequately defined in library policy, or there is a lack of concise objectives and concrete descriptions: what exactly is behind it? Or is this desideratum due to the fact that the topic has always been occupied by other cultural institutions such as museums, theatres, music schools and libraries have tended to put the matter aside? This assessment can be made at least because of the lack of a topic in the specialist library discussion. With regard to libraries, the following questions should be asked: What content and ideas, Should cultural education explicitly meet goals and expectations? What can and should be achieved in libraries that other cultural institutions are not already doing better? Who benefits from it, what educational or economic benefits does it bring, what improved image could it achieve? Is cultural education a full component in the canon of all existing educational functions that primary as well as secondary educational and cultural institutions have to fulfill, partly with and partly without a legal mandate? Clear assessments, targets and proposals for action would be necessary and sensible here. what improved image could it achieve? Is cultural education a full component in the canon of all existing educational functions that primary as well as secondary educational and cultural institutions have to fulfill, partly with and partly without a legal mandate? Clear assessments, targets and proposals for action would be necessary and sensible here. what improved image could it achieve? Is cultural education a full component in the canon of all existing educational functions that primary as well as secondary educational and cultural institutions have to fulfill, partly with and partly without a legal mandate? Clear assessments, targets and proposals for action would be necessary and sensible here.

For decades after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, the public library was seen exclusively as a cultural institution and classified as such by politicians and the public. Since reunification, there has been a change towards recognition as an educational institution. Today, public libraries are making intensive efforts to profile themselves as (secondary) educational institutions and to be taken seriously as equal partners by school and other educational institutions as well as educational policy: educational tasks are ultimately among the legally binding, financially heavily funded institutions in contrast to the voluntary ones cultural area. Libraries would like to be part of these compulsory tasks and have long struggled with the support of their associations in Bund.

If one focuses so strongly on elementary educational functions, including critical voices, isn’t there a danger that that strong second cultural mainstay of public libraries is in danger of falling into oblivion? What political weight does “cultural education” have today – after all, a concept in which “culture” and “education” are apparently brought together as equals? It can be stated that the primary goals of community library work have long been – and very likely will continue to be in the near future – in promoting reading among children and young people, support in (increasingly more digitally oriented) media and research skills, in the active support and help with school and professional ( education, training and further education) as well as with all aspects of individual lifelong learning . This is where their core business takes place, and this is where the libraries provide important services and support.

Or is everything that libraries do per se ultimately cultural work and thus – as a matter of course – already “cultural education”? Pragmatists in the libraries will take a more relaxed view of this: Sometimes the pendulum of their library work, their offers and services swings more towards “culture”, at other times more towards “education”. If so, then the critical assessments expressed are obsolete and one can safely delete them.

From the author’s point of view, it would be important to expand the concept of culture and not just focus it on institutions or sectors in a new definition. I share the assessment that, especially in smaller towns and communities, in addition to cultural institutions such as libraries, music and art schools and museums, there are also buildings in former agricultural, handicraft or commercial buildings, in monasteries, castles and palaces, in addition to cultural centres, community and town houses adult education centres, tourism offices, associations, neighbourhoods, private individuals and companies should also be included and involved as cultural actors. This would then also name the most important players with whom, depending on the region and environment and on an equal footing, libraries should enter into cooperative partnership agreements.

However, there is a core problem hanging over all the efforts that have been started to strengthen cultural education: what is meant, especially in the library sector, is the weak political and legal anchoring of cultural institutions – in contrast to educational institutions such as schools, adult education centers or universities. In the Federal Republic there is no nationwide library law and since reunification only five of the 16 federal states have passed their own library laws in their parliaments – albeit without binding norms and obligations, so public libraries continue to be one of the so-called “voluntary tasks” of the municipalities (Praxis Handbuch Library Management 2015:25). This means that no municipality has to set up or maintain a library, but can do so if if it takes seriously the task that the communities have to carry out in the area of ​​education and culture on the basis of the community ordinances. Based on this general mandate to contribute what is necessary to the cultural services of general interest of their citizens, municipalities – depending on their size and financial strength – maintain a public library in addition to theatres, orchestras, museums, archives, music schools or adult education centers.

Library work in rural areas

libraries in rural areas

Rural regions , what is it? Current binding definitions are rather rare. They are understood as a spatial category that is divided into higher-density rural districts and lower-density rural districts and contrasts with urbanized areas and urban agglomerations. As is now undisputed among experts, rural areas don’t actually exist at all. Today it is widely accepted that the decisive factor for the attribute “rural” is the degree of distance to the nearest middle or upper center as well as the settlement structure or the degree of agricultural character.

The facts are clear: the smaller and thus economically weaker a municipality is, the lower the cultural commitment and the per capita expenditure for culture – in this sense a kind of vicious circle. There is little financial leeway to present a sufficiently attractive cultural offering or to offer new mobile mediation formats. In order to take advantage of cultural offerings, especially in rural areas, children, young people, working people and senior citizens often have to travel long distances to the next larger medium-sized or large city, which is often made more difficult by limited public transport or integration into all-day school operations. Today’s reality is sobering for certain social groups: Although life in the country can be idyllic, restful and quiet, but for many it is also lonely when there is no demand-oriented bus or train service or people without cars, i.e. the personal mobility of people and thus the accessibility of important facilities such as supermarkets, doctors, pharmacies, schools, municipal administration, clubhouses and cultural institutions are severely restricted is. The increasingly older people register this development with concern and helplessness. The slightly increasing number of, for example, voluntary citizen buses for individual transfer from A to B may be a notable exception. Facilities close to the people, whether permanent or mobile, which can best be reached on foot or at least with little effort in terms of transport technology, would be an important advantage for the rural region.

Goals of library work

Even if the goal of addressing as broad a public as possible of all classes and groups and introducing them to public libraries remains universal, library work almost everywhere focuses on young user groups between the ages of 3 and 16 – in both urban and rural areas experiences are almost the same. Language and reading skills are viewed by all political and professional actors as the decisive basic requirements for acquiring education, school and professional success. In line with the growing importance of language and reading promotion and the teaching of research and media skills, the libraries – especially in smaller municipalities and the church-run libraries – are increasingly concentrating on offers and services for the young age groups from six to 16 years even in two to five-year-olds (Plassmann et al 2011:96). More than a third of the book and media stocks are often geared towards this user group, and appropriate age-appropriate furniture and room layout support this concern.

Accordingly, children’s and youth literature and the numerous possibilities of its active use and presentation play an important role in the task profile of all public libraries. The librarians are aware that this medium in particular makes a decisive contribution to reading socialization, in which reading is learned as one of the basic cultural techniques. Learning acts such as independently grasping, understanding and recognizing social reality, as explained by educators, are significantly influenced by reading. Reading literacy thus provides an important basis for participation, even in early childhood.

Libraries as places of learning and leisure

However, the terms reading promotion – in particular reading competence and reading performance – are defined and used differently by educators and librarians. Reading promotion is generally understood to be a somewhat vaguely defined collective term for various methodical procedures that are intended to promote and improve reading interest, reading volume, reading fluency or text comprehension. Promotion of reading in the library sense should encourage reading and build stable reading behavior, i.e. create a positive influence on reading motivation and reading habits. Here, public libraries of all sizes, in urban and rural areas, offer the right reading material with their age- and development-appropriate book and media collections.

If you look at the variety of actions and events presented, most libraries have taken over social functions and developed into communication and cultural centers that enrich the social and cultural infrastructure of a community (Plassmann et al 2011:96). Indisputably, its importance and function as a public meeting place, as a place for leisure and learning has grown. Against the background of a slowly increasing impoverishment of certain population groups and social milieus – the gap between rich and poor widens a little more every year according to surveys – socio-political aspects in library work are again gaining importance. to buy books,

Another discernible desideratum is the frequent lack of an action-based projection of cultural education in the library sector in rural areas. Traditional cultural work by museums, theatres, music schools, etc. has so far been defined almost exclusively as urban culture; villages and small towns only knew it to a limited extent. The only limited funds available and the limited room size of existing public libraries greatly reduce the chances of being perceived and taken seriously as an attractive location for cultural activities.

Situation of libraries in rural areas

What is the reality in rural regions with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants? The (municipal or church-run) libraries are spatially much smaller than in medium-sized and large cities with an area of ​​several hundred or thousand square meters. Often there is not more than a classroom-sized building of around 50-70 square meters available. The opening hours per week are limited to six to ten hours spread over two or three days. The acquisition budgets for media are lower and are often only around or less than one euro per inhabitant. The management works on a voluntary basis, if necessary a team of two to four employees is on duty, in church libraries even up to ten or 15 people. Voluntary commitment is often very courageous and strives for professionalism,

A crucial point is therefore the question: Does a state or church have or support specialist departments or central libraries that intervene in a technical manner, motivate with ideas, concepts and measures, provide qualitatively appropriate training and further education offers, if possible different incentives and Be able to offer financial aid and thus act as a motor and initiator for a wide range of support services? In 15 of the 16 federal states – apart from Berlin – there are specialist departments of this type (24 state and 15 church) which, despite different staff and material equipment and tasks, are indispensable partners of the city and community libraries, especially in small towns and rural areas.

Libraries as ‘Third Places’ – even on a small scale

One keyword has enlivened the current specialist discussion about new concepts and profile development like no other: libraries as third places . The technical term, borrowed from sociology, describes the strategic decision made by libraries to redevelop themselves as a place of communication and social space, in addition to many other profile projects. Public libraries, if they identify themselves as such third party places understand, not only want to set striking architectural accents with their buildings, i.e. to be seen by the population both outside and inside and, with the help of a high quality of stay, take on the function of widely recognized social places. In fact, a growing number of modern new library buildings or conversions of historical buildings characterize many places to a remarkable degree.

Following the example of other libraries, for example in Scandinavia, Great Britain, the Netherlands or the USA, some libraries have developed ideas on how other service facilities can be integrated in their own building or in the immediate vicinity: tourist information, adult education centres, museums, restaurants, cafeterias, bookshops , bank branches or exhibition and conference rooms are examples. Developing libraries into lively places of learning and information centers that provide space for the work of individuals or groups is becoming the focus of library objectives in large cities. Transferring this to rural regions on a smaller scale would be a meaningful challenge and task that creates synergies. Not just learning or scientific work, Art exhibitions or theater projects, music and singing evenings can also be carried out well in appropriately large, multifunctional library rooms. Since the needs of users and participants are different, flexible, technically up-to-date and versatile room equipment is required.

As the discrepancy between the number of active media borrowers and the much higher number of identified visitors to libraries shows, there is a considerable need for publicly accessible social communication and event spaces. It is already impossible to imagine a modern library without the cafeteria. Pleasantly furnished rooms, so-called “living rooms”, are establishing themselves in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian libraries, where visitors can talk, surf the Internet, have a coffee or read in a relaxed atmosphere. Or they can view art objects, listen to music, or interact with each other in theater classes and projects as needed. More than ever, interior designers have to devote themselves to an experience-oriented design of variable and certainly also “function-free” rooms. In addition, opening hours into the evening hours and on weekends, if necessary also on Sundays, should be a matter of course. The library of today – not just tomorrow’s and also the smaller ones in the country – is a house of collective inspiration in the sense of the third place, a place with ambience and style, where one likes to spend time and informally the world of information research, of books and modern media that encounters people and their literary or artistic works (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:142). Ultimately, libraries of this type also become a location factor and attract visitors for the local economy or tourism.

Program and event work as a pillar of cultural education offers

If it is clear that many of the library offers are to be understood as cultural education work, then public libraries have a big asset with which they can grow: their numerous events. The program and event work alone that public libraries do weekly and monthly – and often also in the small and very small libraries in rural regions – is enormous and is growing every year, both quantitatively and qualitatively. In 2015, a total of around 374,000 events were held by and in (around 8,500) library locations. Around half of the events were aimed at children: library introductions, exhibitions, readings, music, theater and cabaret events, etc. (data poster 2016: Libraries count! Report year 2015). Statistically, there were 44 events per library per year. This corresponds to three to four events per month. In many small community libraries – especially in places with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants* – it is quite realistic to hold two or more events of different types and target groups per month, mostly in cooperation with kindergartens and schools and also there.

In the program and event work, the libraries are concerned – in addition to pedagogical aspects such as reading motivation and language training, gaining media skills and further training or creativity, entertainment and meaningful leisure activities, as well as socio-political aspects such as participation in democratic dialogue – of course also about the book and non- book holdings proactively to the public and attracting broad target groups to the libraries.

Only a small part of the many examples of action can be highlighted here. This includes:

  • Regular reading lessons for children aged 1-7 years
  • Implementation of picture book cinemas for children from 4-7 years
  • Author readings and encounters with illustrators
  • Game and handicraft afternoons based on book templates
  • Video and film screenings for all ages
  • Conducting “summer reading clubs” during the holidays
  • modern forms such as interactive board stories, social reading and transmedia storytelling
  • Reading workshops and literature discussion groups for different age groups
  • Organization of writing and literature workshops
  • Reading nights with school classes or mixed groups of children and young people
  • Various forms of class tours: experience-, topic- or information-oriented
  • Setting up a swap meet, a reading corner or a bookshelf in a school class (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:80).

Reading promotion

Libraries are increasingly paying attention to measures to promote gender-sensitive reading, which take effect when different partners cooperate and complement each other: parents, educators, teachers, libraries, bookstores, publishers and, last but not least, politics are in demand. Research shows that gender bias can affect both girls’ and boys’ educational outcomes and career choices. This is neither about maintaining traditional role models nor about leveling down. It is important for both girls and boys to experience their needs and interests individually and to allow their preferences. In addition to the special reading promotion for boys, the promotion of reading for girls is also undisputedly important,

In addition to the conventional book media, digital and multimedia offers are increasingly becoming the focus of modern reading promotion. Worth mentioning are hybrid picture books that work according to the principle of augmented reality: Here, children of kindergarten age experience the classic picture book with text on their tablet or smartphone in a different way using various apps, ie with sound and video examples. For older children there are offers to create their own e-books via app or social reading offers that allow online exchange of texts.

Cooperation projects

In addition to the campaigns financed by the federal states, the federal government has been involved in reading promotion for some time. This is done primarily through cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF) and the Reading Foundation and the German Library Association ( dbv ), the Borromäus Association , the Evangelical Literature Portal , the Sankt Michaelsbund and the specialist departments ‘ conference (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:81). The funding and cooperation models developed primarily by the BMBF in recent years, in which many dozens of public libraries participate each year, especially through the dbv as coordinator, in order to work with theatre, art, music, monuments, and media-related institutions and groups to develop joint projects are important actions with a constant challenge: The projects offered are considered to be quite bureaucratic, labor-intensive and personnel-intensive in terms of application, preparation and follow-up, since the intensive exchange of ideas with other cultural institutions on site is practical and ideal Interfaces and synergies to be explored and later implemented in feasible actions. Some of the projects, which, for example, repertory cinemas, children’s and youth theater groups, youth barns, Traditional associations such as choral societies, amateur theaters or music schools seem at first glance to be inconsistent with the traditional work of many libraries. However, if you broaden your horizons, are creative and can think outside the box, you will discover that meaningful cooperation with distributed roles is very possible. Sometimes the idea of ​​competition prevents a rapprochement. Developing networks is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but indispensable. that meaningful cooperation with distributed roles is very possible. Sometimes the idea of ​​competition prevents a rapprochement. Developing networks is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but indispensable. that meaningful cooperation with distributed roles is very possible. Sometimes the idea of ​​competition prevents a rapprochement. Developing networks is time-consuming and labor-intensive, but indispensable.

The change that has been initiated is slowly becoming visible. as evidenced by an increasing number of initiatives and collaborations between public libraries and other local cultural institutions, especially in small towns. The variety of activities in regions with predominantly village structures is obviously less. Using all kinds of book and non-book media – which are generally and obligatory more or less widely available in public libraries – some promising projects have been developed and carried out in partnership in the last two or three years, such as:

  • In holiday workshops, children and young people from the 4,700-inhabitant town of Erdmannhausen (Baden-Württemberg) created rallies through the town under the title “Discover your Erdmannhausen – Actionbound for Erdmannhausen” using the Actionbound app. They made their own films or filmed interviews and photographed images for the creation of comics.
  • In the city library of Schneverdingen in the Lüneburg Heath, a municipality with 19,000 inhabitants, ten reading tandems were formed between children and seniors under the title “Children’s Books, Films & Apps”. During the weekly meetings, the children’s reading skills were promoted by reading together, reading aloud and using reading apps. Cinema visits to book adaptations rounded off the program.
  • In the project “Nature meets technology – create your story” of the Espelkamp public
    library in North Rhine-Westphalia with 25,000 inhabitants, children created their own photo stories about animals in the forest in a holiday project week after reading a non-fiction book together and visiting the forester with tablets.

As part of the project “Lesen macht stark”, financed by the BMBF and organized by the dbv together with the Digital Opportunities Foundation : from 2013 to 2017, reading and digital media were able to form more than 350 alliances for education in 16 federal states with the participation of libraries be realized, of which an estimated 15% by libraries in small and medium-sized towns. In the projects to promote reading and media skills, the focus was on the independent, creative use of media. A (read) text always formed the starting point of the campaign, which served as the basis for further development with the help of digital media, social media applications, gaming, geo- or edu-caching as well as film or radio play projects. Volunteers supported the full-time alliance partners on site. At the same time, the Digital Opportunities Foundation carried out a free qualification campaign with training courses in dealing with new media for the participating volunteers.

Important additional functions through mobile libraries and school libraries

Mobile libraries In addition to the building-bound libraries, mobile
libraries are still important in the local and supra-local supply of information and media libraries play a distinctive role. Such mobile libraries are not only used in the outskirts of big cities, but also in sparsely populated rural regions: They are book buses of different sizes that carry between 3,000 and 6,000 media on their scheduled tours with fixed locations every week or two weeks. In 2013, around 90 mobile libraries with around 100 vehicles were in use in Germany. In 1995 there were still 150 buses. Despite the declining number of vehicles, their use and resonance among the population has remained constant at a high level. In addition to lending media, the buses are also an attractive place for many groups to learn, play and read aloud (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:59). In rural areas in particular, there is an urgent need

The establishment of mobile libraries is usually linked to the political will to reduce the existing urban-rural gap in terms of library offerings. While book buses are also small social and cultural meeting places in many rural communities, in large cities they function as mobile branches and often drive to schools and kindergartens. Sometimes they replace local branches that are closed to save money. The primary target groups are children and young people, mothers and fathers with small children, senior citizens and also refugees. Cooperation with institutions such as kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools is one of the core tasks. As in the permanent libraries, book buses are used to promote reading by introducing library introductions, Lesson-accompanying reading hours and topic-related projects for kindergarten groups and school classes are offered. Cooperation agreements do a good job between the institutions by jointly setting goals and the distribution of tasks and describing the steps to be taken to achieve them. The mobile library can certainly advertise its greatest advantages as being mobile and flexible: it can react quickly to changes in the population or infrastructure with newly adapted stops and timetables, lengthen or shorten stopping times and expand media offerings. Mobile libraries enable school children to visit a library regularly, and they are often an integral part of the lesson (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:74). Cooperation agreements do a good job between the institutions by jointly setting goals and the distribution of tasks and describing the steps to be taken to achieve them. The mobile library can certainly advertise its greatest advantages as being mobile and flexible: it can react quickly to changes in the population or infrastructure with newly adapted stops and timetables, lengthen or shorten stopping times and expand media offerings. Mobile libraries enable school children to visit a library regularly, and they are often an integral part of the lesson (Seefeldt/Syré 2017:74). Cooperation agreements do a good job between the institutions by jointly setting goals and the distribution of tasks and describing the steps to be taken to achieve them. The mobile library can certainly advertise its greatest advantages as being mobile and flexible: it can react quickly to changes in the population or infrastructure with newly adapted stops and timetables, lengthen or shorten stopping times and expand media offerings. Mobile libraries enable school children to visit a library regularly, and they are often an integral part of the lesson. To be mobile and flexible: It can react quickly to changes in population or infrastructure with newly adapted stops and timetables, lengthen or shorten stop times and expand media offerings. Mobile libraries enable school children to visit a library regularly, and they are often an integral part of the lesson. To be mobile and flexible: It can react quickly to changes in population or infrastructure with newly adapted stops and timetables, lengthen or shorten stop times and expand media offerings. Mobile libraries enable school children to visit a library regularly, and they are often an integral part of the lesson.

School libraries
The libraries in the schools also offer similar opportunities for supplementary cultural and educational work. Numerically speaking, small towns and larger villages have more elementary schools than community libraries. Libraries and schools have been closely linked for decades, even if the cooperation of schools and their school libraries with public and academic libraries has long been criminally neglected. Similar to mobile libraries, school libraries and media libraries can help to strengthen the cultural integrity of a place or region and win over their users, teachers and students, as active promoters of culture. Prerequisite is the presence spatially,

The establishment, equipment and professional support of many school libraries in Germany is still unsatisfactory compared to the standards in Scandinavian and Anglo-American countries. Although their presence in everyday school life is increasing in public perception, they often lead a shadowy existence. Although not fundamentally questioned, unfavorable framework conditions and conflicts of competence lead to an extremely heterogeneous school library landscape. While school libraries in large cities are often professionally managed branches of a metropolitan system, in medium-sized and small towns the organisationally independent school library predominates, which is usually organized and managed by teachers on a part-time basis and is run on a voluntary basis by students, parents and other semi-skilled workers in everyday practice will..

Where appropriate financial, human and spatial resources are available, school libraries fulfill important cultural functions as an information center, classroom, communication platform, cultural center, also as a center for media productions, and for leisure activities and the promotion of reading. Thanks to the increase in all-day schools and regular afternoon classes, school library concepts are coming to the fore, in which the facility is positioned as a place of learning as well as a place of relaxation and care. What would be new would be to place it even more strongly as a cultural place, for example through:

  • Joint events of the community library and school library such as author readings, cabaret and puppet theater performances,
  • Expansion as an attractive forum for lectures, discussions, exercises, etc. or
  • early and regular use of the inventory and space within the framework of teaching the subjects art, music, German, eg with theater and literature working groups.

Public Libraries by County