Librarians of university, court and city libraries in German lands in the years 1789-1871 and the access to book collections

Abstract

The 19^th  century brought numerous changes in political, social and economic life, which also left a mark upon libraries. This can be seen especially in the case of libraries that had been operating for a long time, serving both scientists and the so-called general public. Using the example of the German court, university and city libraries of 1789–1871, we will show how these changes influenced the condition of the access to the collections. Typical problems in this field included: short opening times of libraries, a narrow circle of users limited to the upper-class; limiting the time and number of books borrowed at one time, which was caused by a number of factors, including insufficient staff and / or financial resources. Until 1871, the condition of the access to collections was influenced by excessive individualism, a lack of cooperation, and a variety of organizational solutions in German libraries. The awareness of the shortcomings and limitations, as demonstrated by the next decades, paradoxically led to cooperation in this field.