Historical school libraries in dialogue between libraries, schools and research
Conference in cooperation with the Institute of Education at Ruhr University Bochum and the Library for Educational History Research at DIPF Berlin
School libraries with historical book collections are hardly anchored in the public consciousness. Yet in many places they contain cultural treasures of the highest order, which are also valuable sources for researching the history of education and knowledge. The conference aims to bring together representatives from libraries, schools and academia in a dialogue and focus on the history and present of historical school libraries. Its goal is to promote networking and ongoing cooperation.
The conference is a joint project of the Francke Foundations in Halle, the Institute of Education at Ruhr University Bochum and the Library for Educational History Research at DIPF Berlin.
REGISTRATION
Participation in the conference is possible in person or online. Registrations for in-person participation must be submitted by 1 September 2025, and for online participation by 15 September 2025 to Dr. Thomas Grunewald: grunewald(at)francke-halle.de.
PROGRAMME
Thursday, 18 September
11:00 a.m. Welcome
Marianne Schröter, Britta Klosterberg, Halle
Keynote speech
11:15 a.m. Processes of transmission in historical school libraries
Felicitas Noeske, Hamburg
What are historical school libraries? Examples of different institutions
12:00 Book purchases and reading culture at the Fürstenschule Heilsbronn in the 17th/18th century
Stefan Ehrenpreis, Innsbruck
12:45 p.m. Break
1:45 p.m. From scholarship to enlightenment pedagogy: The library of the Archigymnasium Soest in the 18th century
Johannes Süßmann, Paderborn
2:30 p.m. The role of libraries in Reformed
Grammar schools for teaching Latin, Greek and Hebrew in the Kingdom of Hungary in the 18th century
Ádám Hegyi, Szeged
3:15 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. The school libraries of the Transylvanian Saxons in Brașov and Sibiu
Attila Verók, Eger
4:30 p.m. The library of the Württemberg Lower Seminary in Schöntal since its foundation in 1810 – a historical inventory analysis
Corinna Ehlers, Tübingen
5:15 p.m. Collection development between historicism and school reform: The collections of the German Teachers' Library 1876–1914
Monika Mattes, Berlin
6:00 p.m. Break
Evening lecture (English Hall; House 26)
7:30 p.m. The books from the children's library of the Bürgerschule im Waisenhause zu Halle (Citizens' School in the Orphanage in Halle) from 1833
Sebastian Schmideler, Berlin
Friday, 19 September
What to do with historical school libraries?
Historical school libraries in the classroom: best practice examples
9:00 a.m. The library of the Mariengymnasium in Jever and its use in the classroom and with extracurricular partners
Anja Belemann-Smit, Jever
9:30 a.m. From the basement to science and teaching. The historical school library of the Domgymnasium Verden between establishment, neglect and modern integration into school and research
Florian Dirks, Reinhard Nitsche, Verden
10:00 a.m. The rescue and restoration of the old teachers' library of the Humanistic Gymnasium in Landshut. A best practice example
Yvonne Löken, Doris Danzer, Landshut
10:30 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. Research, integration, communication – the historical library of the Ratsgymnasium Bielefeld in teaching, school and the public sphere
Benjamin Magofsky, Bielefeld
11:30 a.m. Discussion
12:00 Break
Research, index, remember, save
12:45 p.m. Indexing former grammar school libraries with the help of historical school programmes
Elisabeth Rudolph, Berlin
1:30 p.m. The library of the Herford Gymnasium Fridericianum and its rescue
Daniel Teubner, Bochum
1:50 p.m. Upheavals and new beginnings. The historical teachers' library of the Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium in Aachen
Johannes Maximilian Nießen, Aachen
2:10 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Who's Who: Extracting and enriching personal data with NER and NEL from educational materials
Anke Hertling, Braunschweig
3:15 p.m. The significance of the historical school library for the culture of remembrance at Landesschule Pforta
Petra Dorfmüller, Schulpforte
What happens next?
4:00 p.m. Closing discussion
Joachim Scholz (Bochum), Stefan Cramme (Berlin), Felicitas Noeske (Hamburg), Britta Klosterberg (Halle)
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
Guided tour through the Francke Foundations
18 September 2025, 9:30 a.m., Thomas Grunewald
Meeting point in front of the Historic Orphanage
