More than 46,000 visitors participated in 1,911 events - a new record. The results prove the evolution of the Leipziger Städtische Bibliotheken as a so called Third Place, a social surrounding where people come together and like to stay, a place that offers a broadened spectrum of learning opportunities and activities.
Lendings increased 2 percent, almost 5 million lendings were counted. Round about 1.136 million people visited our libraries, an increase of 11 percent compared to 2017. The number of online visits reached an all-time high of 3.688 million.
What's new this year?
The character of our children's libraries is changing, they are transforming into places for experiments and experiences. They offer a creative surrounding with lots of learning and gaming activities and give room to discover the potetial of media. On Saturday, April 23 2019, and on the following Sunday the City Library and the Library Gohlis will celebrate the World Book Day with a day full of activities dedicated tot he young visitors with lots of gaming and learning activities.
The library as a social place is changing. The project "LeipzigZimmer", supported by the Federal Cultural Foundation, developes a room in the City Library that invites the local and regional society to discover an inniovative and creative place and fill it with events and activities with a local context.
The Library Paunsdorf has already proven itself as a place of innovation. The staff now has more time for events and information services by redesigning the library and bringing in new technologies with automatic self-service stations. In 2019 the library examines further possibilites to develop an "automatic library" with extended self-service and opening hours.
The library Südvorstadt starts this year with the planning of the intended reconstruction in 2020.