A library goes into exile

Created: 01/11/2023 17:06

By: Martin Schullerus

Special Book Boxes That Won't Tear Easily: Moving a library involves logistical hassle and hard work.

Library manager Elke Naeve (photo) is grateful that a moving company is tackling.

© Photo: Michael Schönwalder

The Gräfelfingen community library has to give way to the construction workers in the community center.

The move into exile is in full swing.

Anticipation mixes with the stress of the mammoth logistical task.

Of course, to return in the uncertain future, but no less to the new home.

Because it is much more than an emergency solution.

Gräfelfing –

Everyone knows this from their own moves: the heaviest boxes are always the ones with the books.

And they tear reliably if the back doesn't pinch first.

Library boss Elke Naeve is now responsible for a move that almost exclusively affects books, many thousands.

In general, the numbers are huge.

Around 23,000 items of media need to be packed, transported and put away again.

It would actually be around 30,000, but many are currently wisely with the readers - unbureaucratically extended until the end of February.

The material adds up to 700 meters of shelf space, or 400 cubic meters in packaged form.

It's hard work, and it's mostly done by the moving company.

Elke Naeve is happy about the help of the professionals.

“They are working with six men;

we could never do it alone,” she says.

And hold the boxes.

Because they are specially reinforced book boxes - a little smaller and not completely full.

In any case, there really is enough for Naeve and her team to do.

For example, everything so that the moving company can do as much as possible on its own without throwing the library into chaos.

The crux: "We can't keep the same layout in the new rooms." So the team meticulously labeled the old shelves that were still full.

The same notes were put on the boxes or mesh baskets.

And they find their pair on the wall in the new rooms.

The first result after a week of moving: the bookshelves freshly stocked by the company look usable;

the system works, even if some things still need to be put in order.

The shelves, which, like the brown carpet, were part of the original furnishing of the community center from 1984, are just barely standing.

Some get a little out of the glue, but Elke Naeve's consolation is: "You don't have to manage another move.

Only this one.” When you return to the freshly renovated community center, everything will be new, larger, more modern.

The library area is growing significantly, the offices are located on the second floor of the new tower, there is a reading café with a view of the station square and additional rooms.

The library team is involved in the ongoing planning.

Nobody knows today when that will happen.

It says two years on paper, but Elke Naeve says: "I'm actually expecting more." So it's a good thing that the interim solution will make the wait extremely pleasant.

The library gets the ground floor and a large part of the first floor in the orphaned former Doemens Academy on the corner of Stefanusstrasse and Schmidbauerstrasse.

The sign “Bücherei” is already emblazoned above the main entrance on Schmidbauerstraße, and the route is already signposted inside.

The community did a good job here.

There are some new carpets, new wall openings and separating walls where necessary, a new ramp for wheelchair users from the driveway and a new disabled toilet.

Most of the media are located on the ground floor, while those that are less frequented, such as philosophy, religion and history, are on the upper floor, which can only be reached by stairs and no elevator – a downer.

"We will offer a delivery service in individual cases," says Elke Naeve.

For structural reasons, the shelves have to be positioned primarily along the walls, which requires more space.

Nevertheless, the entire inventory can be rebuilt - except for seasonal items that are stored in the basement.

Thanks to many large windows, the rooms are bright and friendly, dry and clean.

The children's area has the largest room, the young people's books are also housed separately.

There are computer workstations and reading tables again.

The processes for borrowing and returning are well thought out, and large, colourful, labeled beacons in the hallway provide orientation.

The popular return box will also be available again.

What the library team has already researched and was pleased to note: "It gets far less hot here in summer than in the community center," says Elke Naeve.

And: "We are pleased, this is a very good solution for our library."

If everything goes according to plan - and that's what it looks like at the moment - the library will open in the new domicile on February 14th.

By the way, the opening hours remain unchanged.

A library family festival is planned for March 18 so that users can get acquainted with their new library.