ACADEMY LIBRARY > 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 |
Use and function of the library The primary users of the Academy and the library were the
professors and the students, as well as the members of the Estates of Town
and Province, other magistrates, and the protestant clergy. To educate
civil servants, judges, physicians, and ministers, the Academy needed
scholarly books. Because of the organisation of the curriculum, the
function and use of an academic library was much more restricted than
today. The collection of a seventeenth-century university library was
above all supplementary to the private libraries of the professors and
other scholars, which were often made accessible to others. It was
customary for professors to give their lectures at home, and often they
provided housing for students as well. Moreover, many held the view that
manuscripts (and maybe printed books as well) should not be kept in a
public library with restricted accessibility for research. Not only were
the opening hours limited, but contemporaries were not shy to accuse
librarians of 'Neid, Unwissenheit und Faulheit' - jealousy, ignorance,
and laziness. Also, public libraries did not systematically buy certain
genres of publications, such as small formats, pamflets, academic
occasional publications, and belles-lettres. |