Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin

Libraries, my one true love.

I've been in the city for almost a week and I was so busy playing tourist with other friends who are visiting that I hadn't gotten a chance to seek out this city's book repositories.

Berlin is a very literary city. Homages to Goethe pop up all over the place, bookstores (which will be another post) are thick on the ground, and I'm even fortunate enough to be here during the annual Literature Festival! But I feel the heart of a city lies in the library, the availability and different kinds of resources that are offered can tell you a lot about what the people consider important.



I was happy to discover Berlin's system is similar to Seattle's, though only two locations, they house different collections based on space. And their About Us page talks about wanting to consolidate them into one! My heart cries out for more and more locations.

The first location I visited was the Berliner Stadtbibliothek located in the neighborhood I'm staying in, Mitte. Though it is the closer one to me, it is actually easier to get to the other location due to the vagaries of transit.

The library is very open. You can see almost the entire place right as you walk in.

There's a large room of lockers right off the main entrance. I wonder if it is available for the homeless population.

I noticed this sink in the bathroom and am not quite sure what is is for, but it looks very convenient for clothes washing. Also, a super rare selfie of your author.

There were lots of spaces to work on projects.

This location houses history, medicine, law, and natural sciences.

And I was pleased to find microfiche machines in such a prominent place on the third floor, along with more than one person using them!

The second location is located in Kreuzberg, just a few stops on the U6 line from my abode.

 The Amerika-Gedankbibliothek is where you go for entertainment.

Fine art, games, music, films, and books about all of those subjects fill the stacks.

 Lots of public boards to advertise for services and cultural events.

A nice place to pick up holds- essential for our busy, modern world.

Places to relax around most corners, and wonderful signage that makes it easy for a native English speaker. And a computer at the end of every aisle for easy navigation of the collection makes me want to swoon.

I already feel like this could become my little home away from home.