From tradition to renewal: Librarians’ training in East Germany before and after the reunification ‐ a short review

Argues that the training of librarians in GDR times gives a strange picture and is difficult to understand. On the one hand it can be seen and understood as a continuation of the traditional German library training before 1933, which was closely linked to practical library work. On the other hand, there was the ideological and political influence by the communist dictators who had made various efforts to restructure and reorganize the system of professional training at that time. With the slow demise of the GDR economy, which had been noticeable since the beginning of the 1980s, general conditions of library training worsened. The fall of the GDR was therefore a release and traditional library training could be rescued. Argues that since 1990 a swift development has been going on and we can now see a similar training of librarians as in the western part of Germany. At the moment we focus our work on an internationalization of studies including joint degree courses and exchange programmes. To provide the students with a broader European feeling and work experience is a necessary challenge nowadays and helps to meet the changing requirements in information management worldwide.