The small celebration in the café of the Planegg library was opened with two quotes: “The only thing you absolutely need to know is the location of the library” – according to Mayor Hermann Nafziger (CSU), the physics Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein said and he emphasized hence the importance of public libraries. And Helmut Schmidt, the former Federal Chancellor, took the same line: “Libraries are the nation’s spiritual filling stations,” quoted library manager Sabine Scheffer. There was enough reason to celebrate: The Planegger community library is 60 years old, the library team with Sabine Scheffer, her representative Ralf Gabel and the archivist Barbara Reinicke opened a small exhibition “#lesenfüralle” with texts from 60 years and historical photos.
May 24, 1962 is considered the day the library was founded, although there was already something like a public reading room in Planegg in the 1920s. The small exhibition is divided into four chapters, and archivist Barbara Reinicke has created pretty posters for this, which deal with “reading promotion”, “changes”, “a new building is necessary” and “everyday work in the library”. Nafziger and the library team refer to the steadily increasing importance of the library: “In the beginning there were 1,500 books on nine square meters,” recalls the mayor. “Today there are 45,000 print media and 15,000 e-books on 800 square meters. What used to be three hours a week has now become more than 30 hours.”
The printed book will continue to exist, said Scheffer: “We can not see any decline in the printed compared to the digital.” Her deputy Ralf Gabel even sees a “digital fatigue” that may also be due to Corona. It’s similar to the record, says Nafziger: “Analogue is coming back.” In Planegg, only a fifth of library users use e-books, explained Scheffer, most opt for conventional books.
The exhibition is open until the end of the year, the postcards with different motifs from 60 years can be picked up free of charge in the library.