The first publication, multiple conversations and a (free) box-office hit: the Leipzig Book Fair

This year the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek had its first appearance at the Leipzig Book Fair, held from 12th to 15th March 2015. Unlike its Frankfurt counterpart, the Leipzig fair is truly a book show for the public. During the four days of the Fair visitors of all ages and areas of interest are invited to explore the latest developments in the book market. The figures alone speak volumes: the Fair, featuring 3,000 people involved in the organisation and over 2,000 exhibitors, set a new visitors record with over 250,000 people attending. ‘Leipzig Reads’, the series of events that ran parallel to the Leipzig Book Fair, hosted 3,200 events at more than 400 venues across the city. Especially popular were the ‘Manga Comic Convention’, a congress for fans of comics, manga and dressing up, the Fair’s theme ‘1965 to 2015. Germany – Israel’, which featured readings by authors from both countries, …and our own stand – though we say so ourselves.

 

From Schloss Rochlitz to Zwickau to Eckernförde: visitors and research at the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek stand

The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek stand in Hall 5 could be found nestling amidst publishing house representations, the literature forum, readings by authors, digital products, print specialists and lifestyle products relating to books and reading culture. We spent four days demonstrating and explaining what the DDB is and what it is set to become. And we did not anticipate the scale of interest shown by the public. Visitors with a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and questions flocked to our stand – the head of a Freiberg library, a genealogist from northern Hesse, students of library science and even individuals looking to download ‘Max and Moritz’ for their grandchildren. Answers were given, trial research was carried out and a geographical map of participating institutions was studied.

On the Friday, which was a Careers Day focusing on books and media, we were visited by many young people who were studying digital processes as part of their course and were attracted by our publication ‘A Future for the Past - Cultural Heritage in a Digital World’. Many youngsters from the ‘Manga Comic Convention’ in Hall 1 also found their way to our stand, resulting in assorted wolves, Pikachus and bunnies picking through our information material. But the most popular give-away at the Fair was the fair-trade jute bag with the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek logo.

 

Leipzig Reads: ‘A Future for the Past - Cultural Heritage in a Digital World’

The ‘Leipzig Reads’ programme – 3,200 events hosted at 410 venues across Leipzig – was a showcase for the international reading community in the form of a raft of readings, lit-crit discussions and presentations. The Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek launched its first publication, ‘A Future for the Past - Cultural Heritage in a Digital World’. The publication was presented in Hall 5 (Fachforum 1) at 5pm on the opening day of the Fair, with Astrid B. Müller chairing a discussion featuring the two publishers of the book, Ellen Euler, Deputy General Manager of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, and lawyer Paul Klimpel, and co-authors Monika Hagedorn-Saupe, Eric Steinhauer and Jürgen Keiper.

The discussion covered the challenges faced by memory institutions such as museums, libraries and archives as they go about digitising cultural heritage, with the publishers and authors expounding on the respective subjects addressed by them in their articles in the publication. These range from organisational and technical issues and tasks to the legal framework within which digitisation takes place. The discussion was followed on various social-media platforms, with a succession of statements and comments being favourited and retweeted on Twitter.

 

The discussion was followed by a reception during which the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek team and representatives from the iRights Media publishing house mingled with the public.

 

On the left: Eric Steinhauer, Jürgen Keiper, Paul Klimpel, Monika Hagedorn Saupe, Ellen Euler // on the right: General Manager Frischmuth invites everyone to the reception

The publication is available from the publishers in a printed version or as an e-book and can also be read free of charge online in the iRights reader. All texts have CC BY open-licence status and may be used freely conditional upon the author being acknowledged.

Leipzig, we’ll be back!

We have pleasant memories of lively discussions, the great atmosphere, an interested public and positive feedback. As well as talking at length throughout the Fair about the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek and its work and mandate, we received many helpful comments on the DDB venture. These range from ‘It’s great that anyone can run a search free of charge on the website’ to ‘I think it’s good that the project is open to the public’ and ‘Thank you. It was well worth stopping by. A great project!’ We also had comments like ‘Now I can prepare my research much better!’ and ‘Wow, I can even listen to the St Matthew Passion!’ After the Fair we can definitely say: ‘Leipzig, we’ll be back!’

Next year we look forward to being in Leipzig for both the Book Fair and another event - the Librarians Congress scheduled for March 2016!