Study tour and conference with 18 librarians from Israel and Beth Bloom from the Seton Hall University Libraries, South Orange, N.J., USA from June 29 – July 7, 2015

Topic of the study tour and conference: The Library as Learning Space and International Cultural Meeting Place Participants: 18 Israeli librarians from university libraries, college libraries, public libraries, special libraries; the American colleague Beth Bloom from the Seton Hall University Libraries, South Orange, N.J.; University Library was the host library Arrival and departure: Duesseldorf airport Accommodation: single rooms in the Language Institute Landesspracheninstitut in the University Bochum Stations of the study tour: University libraries: Bochum, Muenster, Wuppertal, Library of the Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen Public Libraries: Bochum, Hamm, Krefeld Special Library: Martin Opitz Library, Herne College Library: Library of the Bochum College Conference: Beth Bloom gave a general introduction to the topic Library as Learning Space and presented current developments in the USA. 8 Israeli librarians presented their libraries in the context of our topics Learning Space and International Cultural Meeting Place. The following 6 Israeli libraries / library systems were presented: The Hebrew University Libraries, Jerusalem; the Technion Library System, Haifa; the D. Yellin Academic College Library, Jerusalem; the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Public Library System; the Western Galilee College Library, the Meir Art Library in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

The Israeli colleagues had prepared the trip very well. They were a group of highly motivated and highly interested colleagues from all types of libraries. The German colleagues in the libraries we visited were impressed by the competent and informed questions, which were asked, and also by the fact that they all received a large package of the most delicious dates and a book on Israeli art.

Thanks to the car pool of the logistics went well, although in the summer of 2015 there were many construction sites in the Ruhr region. One Israeli colleague arrived by train and was met at the Bochum train station. The transfer of the group and the luggage from the airport to Bochum went well in the middle of the night and from Bochum to the airport as well, in spite of the fact that the highway was completely closed. The program was well planned and unfolded successfully, only there was not enough time for Muenster University Library. We changed the program on the spot and transferred the appointment with the Bochum College to the last day, the day of departure.

North Rhine Westphalia and the Ruhr region are known for their dense and diverse library landscape. We knew that we could offer only a few spectacular new library buildings, but many creative solutions of how libraries adapted existing space to modern requirements and use. Also, we all thought a mixture of different library types would be most interesting. We think that the collaboration among different library types is more important that their differences. Israeli librarians from different types of libraries have asked intelligent questions, offered their perspective on our topics and reported from their experience. We were happy that our friend Beth Bloom from the SHU Libraries found the time to join us. (In her presentation she mentioned the most important reasons why libraries in times of the internet are being used intensively and what users expect from the library as learning space. She described the characteristics of well designed dynamic learning spaces, which foster learning. Also, she summarized the current American discussion on libraries as learning space and listed some dreams about library space of the future. She showed examples of ALA libraries and photos from the redesign of her library -reference area becomes information commons - as well as some interesting web sites related to our topic. She also presented her research about student searching in the age of discovery services.) Beth Bloom enriched the conference and felt enriched by it.

In 2014 I was invited to the Israeli Library Conference Info 2014, and there I had already gained the impression that Israeli librarians are working on the same issues as we do, and I wanted to hear more and also to share this knowledge with colleagues on the university campus and beyond. The presentations the Israeli colleagues gave lasted 20 minutes each and allowed time for questions and a discussion. For me it was especially interesting that the first presentation by Dr. Sanda Bercovici began with a report on Romanian libraries after the changes of 1989. Dr. Sanda Bercovici immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1965. After the Soviet Union fell apart I have taught library management in Eastern Europe. (In my case this happened because of my knowledge of several Slavic languages and my interest in Eastern Europe as a Slavic information specialist.) Librarians from and from Israel have participated in the changes in Eastern Europe. I felt that this experience connected us. The presentations of the Harman Science Library in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem by Michal Hai Athias and of the Technion Library System in Haifa by Dalia Dolev showed super modern and super professional science / technology libraries and contradicted impressively the opinion that science and technology do not need libraries any more. (Yes, even on the RUB campus this can be heard.) The college libraries which we heard about in the presentations of the Israeli colleagues were examples of extraordinarily successful library wok. Dr. Dania Ansberg presented the D. Yellin College Library in Jerusalem and Zahava Santo and Elham Hanna the Western Galilee College Library as an example of successful intercultural library work for Arab students. Miriam Posner, the director of the public library system Tel Aviv-Jaffa, gave a report of a large and great project: The exhibition of the archive of the Israeli Batsheva Dance Company in Israel and in cooperation with the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts also in New York. The occasion was the 50. anniversary of the dance company; the archive is housed in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Public Library. And in Yfat Keider’s presentation of the Meir Art Library in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art the library itself appeared to be an attractive work of art.

The libraries in the region which we visited were selected in such a way that they allow very different perspectives on our topics. The Israeli group observed very well and the report is focussed and precise. I would like to add some comments:

1. The Library of the Folkwang University of the Arts is a new building from 2010; in 2014 the building received an architecture award. The new building was added carefully to the structure of the old monastery. (Unfortunately we did not see the wonderful collections. Ruhr University Bochum gave its music collection to this library when RUB closed its music department. I had asked Viola Springer to show us books on Jewish German musicians and artists of the 1920s, the library has a great collection on this topic. Unfortunately she did not fulfil my request.)

2. The library in the House of the Netherlands in Muenster has received funds from the DFG in the framework of the special collections plan of the DFG for many years. The University of Muenster has funded the basic collection and DFG foreign language materials. DFG also financed the Virtual Library on the Benelux countries. (Currently the DFG special collections plan is being converted to the new program Subject Information Services for the Sciences and Humanities, but this is a complex topic.)

3. Regardless of the interest in Waltraud Richartz-Malmede’s presentation in the Bochum Public Library the Israeli group seemed to be slightly critical of the fact that the library’s services are focussed very much on children and young adults. (The Bochum Public Library is famous for its work in this area.) The Israeli colleagues pointed out that in Israel public libraries are favorite places also of senior citizens and that libraries in Israel are actively promoting services for this clientele. I thought this was very interesting, and I would have liked to see this observation in the report.

4. The Martin Opitz Library in Herne was founded as a special library focussing on German culture in Central and Eastern Europe. Today the library is interested in all aspects of the and culture of Central and Eastern Europe. Jewish culture in Central and Eastern Europe is also a focus of the collection. The conferences which the library organizes in Central Europe every other year with funds from the German government has become a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas for librarians and researchers, and I think they are worth mentioning, since they are very special learning places. These conferences have helped me extend my knowledge on Central and Eastern Europe considerably, and I have been able to contribute my experience and ideas as a Slavic librarian and a library manager. (In September 2015 the conference will take place in Plzen in the Czech Republic.)

Cultural program: In the first week of July the annual music festival Bochum total took place, offering opportunities to listen to music in the streets of Bochum. On the night of Friday, July 3 we attended a service in the beautiful Bochum synagogue and then celebrated the beginning of the Sabbath in the Jewish restaurant Matzen next to the synagogue. On Saturday, July 4 we had an excursion to the state capital Duesseldorf. On Sunday, July 5 we visited the German Museum of Mining in Bochum. The Isreali colleagues had expressed the wish to see this museum since there is no mining in Israel. Unfortunately, the museum is in a phase of restructuring, large parts of the museum do not confirm to the standards of modern museum presentation and the museum has not yet managed to innovate itself and to realize its new presentation concept in all areas. On Sunday night RUB students staged a modern production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in English; almost all Israeli colleagues visited this performance.

The hospitality of the German colleagues towards the Israeli colleagues gave me particular joy. Demonstrating their libraries and their work seemed to give them pleasure, and they were also personally interested in the exchange and in the discussion. I was proud to have helped organize the meetings between my colleagues and my guests. The of RUB, who encourages scientists and researchers of the university to include researchers from Israel in EU research projects, listened to several presentations by the Israeli colleagues, among them the ones about the science and technology libraries from Jerusalem and Haifa, institutions which produced many Nobel Prize winners. There was a genuine exchange of experience and ideas. The colleagues form the libraries we visited also feel this way.

Erda Lapp, Bochum University Library, August 2015