library

5
(1)

Feature photo: © Shutterstock

The signs “University City Heilbronn” have hardly been posted and the discussion begins as to whether the planned and grandly announced redesign of the Heilbronn City Library is actually still necessary.

One is tempted to believe that many of those responsible are only interested in appearances, and that signs and announcements that are effective in the media are the measure of all things.

Recently there was another one library conception for the period 2020 to 2025 on the basis of future workshops with citizens of the city and employees of the Heilbronn City Library. In doing so, we from Heilbronn did not succeed in the big hit that I almost believed in when they first looked at expertise from a sample library, namely from the New York Public Library — which has inspired me for years with its holistic approach — but has certainly taken a big step in this direction.

The mission statement of the city library is as follows:

The Heilbronn City Library sees itself as a place of education, inspiration and information as well as diversity and encounters. With its offers, advisory services and events, it addresses all generations and the diversity of urban society. It enables participation for all citizens. As an educational partner for schools, day-care centers as well as training and further education facilities, she accompanies people in all phases of life. It enables active learning and promotes reading, language, media and information skills in the physical and digital world. Closely networked with the cultural and social offerings in the city, it offers space for cultural experience, encounters, relaxation and communication.

Heilbronn library concept (as of October 2019)

In this way, the city library gives all citizens the chance to acquire the aforementioned "third living space", which today - and much more in the future - will become "life-determining" for many of us.

But even more important and vital for our civil society is that those people, and especially the younger ones among us, who have to endure the much-cited precarious life situations or, even worse, come from completely ignorant family backgrounds, are given the opportunity through education and getting to know functioning bourgeois structures, to successfully settle in the "second living space" (working world) and thus to create their own "first living space" (a decent home) for themselves and later for their own descendants.

Thus, a functioning and lively city library is not only the real figurehead of every city, but also a necessity in order to find as many potentials as possible in the city and to help them seize their chance and ultimately turn it into a profit for " become their city.

Now we can only hope that the majority of the current Heilbronn municipal council takes a similar view, and that some councilors put their personal interests, which are often south of Kaiserstraße, to the fore for the benefit of the entire city and us citizens.

I am happy to remind our local councilors that good infrastructure and educational opportunities are essential for every city and its development. And if money needs to be saved, then please where we citizens — at least most of us — can make adjustments ourselves and therefore municipal subsidies are nice but not essential for survival: e.g. kindergarten places from the age of 3, free to cheaper local public transport, purchase of works of art and their maintenance, as well as the organization of festivals and celebrations.

One could also think about whether the staff of the city administration should not be regularly checked for necessity and expediency.

I'm sure that our municipal councils can find much better and further savings potential in the municipal budget (e.g. attendance fees) without our young people having to be deprived of educational potential and opportunities.


"The main difference is that nowadays all persons equally have those opportunities of higher education which in your day only an infinitesimal portion of the population enjoyed."

Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward: 2000–1887 (1888)

How helpful was this post?

Click on the stars to rate the post!

Average rating 5 / 5. Number of reviews: 1

No reviews yet.

I'm sorry the post wasn't helpful to you!

Let me improve this post!

How can I improve this post?

Page views: 1 | Today: 1 | Counting since October 22.10.2023, XNUMX

Share: