• The city library, city archives and music school work together to preserve services and media collections in the long term and put them to appropriate use.
• 115,000 volumes from the historical collection and the Aachen special collection are given a new home in the city archive. The city archive becomes the center for written records.
• The music school's staff are delighted to have a large part of the music library for professional audiences - and the concert grand piano.

A move always offers the opportunity to reorganize and review the stock. Before the merger of the city library and the adult education center in the "Haus der Neugier", the city library had already reviewed and sorted the book collections and weighed up the offerings and benefits. The existing good cooperation with the city archive and the music school now ensures that offers and media stocks are preserved in the long term and put to appropriate use - in places where they offer real added value.

Regular inventory review and prioritization
Irit Tirtey, Managing Director of the municipal cultural enterprise, is very pleased with this collaboration. "This is exactly why we founded the Kulturbetrieb 20 years ago, to make use of these synergies. This has been exemplary here. The media now come to the places where they are in the best hands."

"Public libraries regularly check their collections and see whether and how they are being used," explains library manager Doris Reinwald: "What is being kept, which areas even need to be expanded and which media are in little or no demand. "Now is a good time to make decisions about what the tasks of a public library are," says Reinwald. First and foremost, this includes enabling low-threshold participation, making information accessible and offering a space for reading, browsing and learning.

Historical holdings move to the city archive in the Nadelfabrik
For the Aachen City Library, the majority of the media now being moved are historical holdings. In addition to the founding collection, this also includes other historical collections, scholars' libraries and bequests. The approximately 115,000 volumes are housed in the basement of the library, not all of which have yet been digitally recorded and are not freely accessible in the city library.

The city archive is much better placed to look after such a collection. There - together with the responsible colleague who is moving from the library to the city archive team - the collections are viewed, evaluated and made accessible in line with the rest of the city archive's services. "As the 'memory of the city', we specialize in paper documents," says Dr René Rohrkamp, Head of the City Archive. "By taking over the historical holdings, we will become the central point of contact for written records for the city community." The media will be handed over to the city archive on January 1, 2026.

The "Aquensien" collections are brought together
This also includes the Aachen special collection, the so-called "Aquensien" - works that deal with the city of Aachen and the surrounding area, from event flyers for parish anniversaries to association publications and monographs. The city archive already has its own regional-historical reference library, which is now being matched and supplemented with the collection of the city library. In future, the city archive will thus bring together all printed works for citizens, schoolchildren and academics interested in the city's history in one place.

Enrichment for the work of the music school
The Aachen music school will receive a large part of the sheet music collection from the city library. This has been systematically built up since 1961 and comprises around 12,500 music books, mainly for a professional audience. "Lending figures have been declining for years, and this year we have thoroughly examined whether we are still in the right place to provide a range of media to meet demand," says Reinwald. As a result, around 1000 music books will remain in the city library, which are aimed at instrument beginners, a comprehensive repertoire in the field of choral singing and music books for popular music for various instruments and singing. Basically all new sheet music acquired in the last three years will also remain. The new profile is based on low-threshold music education, geared towards the needs of the customers.

The remaining sheet music holdings, including all catalog data, will be made available to the music school from the beginning of 2026 to set up an internal sheet music library for teachers. "The acquisition was met with great enthusiasm by our teaching staff. The sheet music collection covers a wide range and many instruments, including pedagogical titles as well as ensemble and chamber music literature. This will enable us to further promote the work of the music school," says music school director Heinz Gassenmeier.

A concert grand piano for the music school
The music school is getting a real treasure on top: the concert grand piano from the city library, which was also only played by a very select group of library users, is also finding a new home at Blücherplatz. After more than fifty years, it needs to be refurbished for the needs of the music school, after which both teachers and pupils can look forward to this addition. "The offer comes in very handy for our keyboard offensive. As a very good teaching instrument, the grand piano will be a real upgrade," says Gassenmeier. In return, two electric pianos from the music school will be brought to the city library to supplement the musical instruments available to borrow from the "Library of Things" and enable low-threshold music education and free experimentation.

The wing room that has now been vacated will be converted into an event venue. The adult education center will also use it for courses - a first taste of what is to come.