The meeting was organised by Ms Wenzel and Ms Herbst from the district lending service. Attending were community librarians from 11 towns, 2 school librarians and a representative of the Saxony-Anhalt specialist centre for public libraries. The Börde district has by far the highest number of volunteer and part-time libraries in Saxony-Anhalt. In her presentation, the representative of the Saxony-Anhalt Specialist Centre for Public Libraries emphasised the importance of these institutions as indispensable components of the educational landscape.
The district lending service currently looks after 21 municipal, community and 4 school libraries in the district. A new library was added this year in Satuelle, and the facility in Wedringen was revitalised. The libraries that use the district lending service have little or no funds themselves to purchase media. Thanks to the provision of funding from the state and the corresponding contribution from the district, the district lending service is able to acquire up-to-date media and provide it ready for lending to the supported libraries. The aim is to provide an up-to-date and high-quality offer in as many places in the district as possible, in close co-operation with the volunteer libraries and their staff.
The media spectrum of the district lending service includes a wide selection that is tailored to the needs of local users: books from the areas of fiction, children's and youth literature as well as non-fiction, but also modern non-book media such as Tonies, a Tonie box, Tiptoi starter sets and books, board games, CDs and audio books. These media are made available to the libraries ready for lending and can therefore be used immediately. They also receive library materials such as registration cards, folding cards, book corners, book cards, shelf labelling, information and advertising flyers to support local lending.
The inventory of the district lending service is closely adapted to the user structure of the respective locations, which means that families with children and older and/or non-mobile citizens are given greater consideration. This is done in close consultation with the local staff in order to be as close as possible to the needs of the users. In this way, the local facilities can be social meeting places, arouse interest in literature and promote reading skills.
There was a lively exchange between the participants on topics such as statistics, user behaviour and structure, events, cooperation with facilities in the communities such as daycare centres and primary schools.
The close cooperation with the employees of the district lending service and their quick response to user requests was emphasised.