Ingela Wieking - Senior Librarian in the German Central Library Apenrade (Denmark)

Professional background & career.

Desired job, which still fulfills me very much after 27.5 years. From September 1992 to September 1996 I completed the "Library system" course at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, at that time still native to the Talmud Tora Realschule on Bornplatz in the Grindelviertel, where one of the Hamburg synagogues used to be.
In a deepening semester after I graduated from diploma, I got to know the beginnings of the Internet (search engines, website structure, specialist information databases) and had time to apply. At the recommendation of the university, I began in May 1997 in the Flensburg City Library at a fixed-term project point, which mainly served to introduce the first IT system with the library software "Biber". After 1.5 years, I also switched to the Head of the Kropp station library (near Schleswig) for 1.5 years.
After 3 years of time limit, I was able to switch to the association of German libraries in North Schleswig in Denmark in April 2000, to an unlimited full -time position. Through an Interreg project at the IT change in the Flensburg City Library, I had already worked with the team of the German Central Library Apenrade across the border. I knew the library association and the Schleswig-Holstein library center through my work in Kropp, where I was employed in those 1.5 years.
Since I completed a Danish course in Flensburg at the time of my application in Apenrade at the Dansk Centralbibliotek, I was also able to show the desired language skills and the willingness to further acquire me.
Already during my studies I felt on the practical days and in the practical semester and experienced that I was in the right place. The occupation with literature, the information and consulting service, the mediation of education and culture, the promotion of reading of the children offer a wide range of permanently interesting work tasks.
I also enjoy the event work. Being a host, contact with artists, authors, authors, organizing exhibitions and readings are always enriching.
In our time, libraries are more important than ever. Investigation, coping with everyday life, quality of stay, encounters and conversations are not empty words in my everyday work.

Learn more about the German Central Library Apenrade (Denmark).
Photo credits Ingela Wieking: © Karin Riggelsen

Personal experiences, meaning foundation & added value.

I particularly appreciate that I have such a variety of everyday work: convey, advise, organize, order new media, open up in terms of content and formally, contact with very different age groups and human types.
Library work is a high degree of idea and not commercially, I particularly like that.
I like my focus: the training of interns, the care of our artotheque, the organization of art exhibitions and vernissages and my literary circle are very important to me. A large part of my working hours are devoted to the existing structure and the diverse tasks at the loan counter.
There were no special key moments, it was an appointment and knowledge from the start, here I am in the right place.
As a librarian, you are on the pulse of time, designed and accompanies social changes, comment on topics such as democracy and sustainability, gender roles and the ubiquitous AI.
As a library of the German minority in Denmark, we have a special position, are located between a private institution and a Danish "folkebibliotek". In the Haus Nordschleswig, which houses the German central library Apenrade, the threads of library work in North Schleswig come together and it is also the headquarters of the administrative units of the German minority, among these are the school and language association and the Schleswig party.
As a border commuter with residence in Flensburg, I find it enriching to live with two languages ​​and cultures and to experience Danish mentality and the Danish value system in everyday work.
The Association of German Library North Schleswig is recognized and established both in the Danish majority population, as well as in the German minority, where it plays a central role in addition to the other institutions such as German schools, kindergartens, churches and a diverse club life. The libraries in Apenrade, Tingleff, Tondern, Sonderburg and Hadersleben are important places of encounter and our two book buses. The population in rural areas, so to speak, are the Kitt in the minority, and also visit German and Danish institutions. We cooperate closely with the Schleswig-Holstein library center and the corresponding Danish partners.
The profession as a librarian is meaningful because he combines many ideals. Libraries are an important building block in our society and through developments in the digital area they are more relevant and more important than ever. Keep an overview in the information jungle, offer training through all ages in the digital area, be the contact for individual help with digital end devices, media literacy through all age groups - convey and maintain - these are just a few of the diverse tasks from our everyday work.
I like the mixture of calm tasks on the shelf, the administrative, also strategic work behind the scenes, then living the plump again, with children's and school groups, the exchange in the literary group and in our events, where we also offer a forum for politically current topics. No day like the other is what conversations, people and inquiries you experience at the lending counter is not foreseeable and always surprising and enriching.
Literature depicts life and we can convey it without being able to be commercial success, I find that as a gift.

Recommendations.

Different characters and personality types find their place in a library. From the introverted bookworm, to the creative ideas of ideas - the mix does it. Teamwork is an important component, since the working days in a library are so diverse and often long, there is a need to coordinate and consult who does what.
Library work is sustainable, requires care and thoroughness, staying power and perseverance- especially in the area of ​​contact and event work and implementing new ideas and trends. I like the Danish -shaped work with courage and openness to try it out and also reject if something has not proven or established. A high level of personal responsibility and flat hierachies are not empty words here.
Communication is very important - internally and outwards. We communicate with our readers, with our visitors and inwards in the book team and the many contacts and cooperation partners. Due to new programs, channels and devices, communication has become more diverse, which also shapes everyday work. Different chat molds, the possibilities in the home office make working more flexible.
My advice to interested parties: make internships, sniff in where the opportunity is available, establish contact with the local library, e.g. B. by participating in events and volunteering. Find and find a good university or training library and become clear as early as possible which direction you want to take, whether scientific library or public library.

In our time, libraries are more important than ever. Investigation, coping with everyday life, quality of stay, encounters and conversations are not empty words in my everyday work.