TIB is “Library of the Year 2020”

The German Library Association and Deutsche Telekom Stiftung honour TIB in recognition of its outstanding work

TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library in Hannover is “Library of the Year 2020”. This year’s national library award worth €20,000, conferred by the German Library Association (dbv) and Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, goes to TIB. The title is awarded in recognition of the outstanding library work undertaken at TIB in the field of the strategic transformation to open science, open access, research data and digital preservation, as well as its excellent development of services at the interface between analogue and digital formats.

Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science Björn Thümler: “I warmly congratulate Professor Auer and his team on winning the ‘Library of the Year 2020’ award. With a great pioneering spirit, TIB, as a service provider for science, succeeds time and again in overcoming the exciting challenges posed by the digital transformation. Thanks to the extremely successful development of its own innovative services, the library is always right at the forefront in all library issues pertaining to the future such as open access, research data management and digital preservation, and thus acts both nationally and internationally as a trailblazer for other libraries and for librarianship itself.”

“TIB plays a leading role in shaping the digital transformation”

Dr. Frank Mentrup, President of the German Library Association and Chair of the Jury, stated: “This year, we present the ‘Library of the Year’ award to a scientific library that plays a leading role in shaping the digital transformation of libraries. With its strategic, forward-looking library work, with its diverse social and cultural involvement in society and well into the region, seeking to make science and research ‘socially acceptable’, and, not least, by maintaining the supply of literature during the coronavirus crisis via TIB Document Delivery, ‘TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library’ is a library that is very worthy of this award.”

Dovetailing traditional library services with innovative research results

“The digital transformation poses a major challenge for libraries such as TIB, but at the same time opens up completely new prospects,” stated TIB Director Professor Dr. Sören Auer with conviction. “The award from dbv and Deutsche Telekom Stiftung strengthens us in our resolve to push further ahead with dovetailing traditional library services and new digital offerings based on innovative research results,” Auer enthused.

The “Library of the Year” award is conferred by a jury made up of representatives from the German Library Association, Deutsche Telekom Stiftung, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, the Association of German Cities, and Library and Information in Germany – Federal Union of German Library Associations (BID). This year, the jury reviewed a total of 34 entries. The official award ceremony will take place on 24 October 2020.

A new award for the “Library of the Year 2020 in Small Municipalities and Regions” was introduced this year for the first time. This award went to Gotha City Library in recognition of its outstanding education and media work, tailored to different target groups.

Feedback