The Team:

The staff of the Geoscience Library at the Lankwitz Campus places great emphasis on creating a pleasant, welcoming, and green atmosphere in a dedicated department. The entrance area opposite the information desk has been furnished with second-hand furniture, various office plants and succulents, a coffee/tea counter, and an aquarium to create a homely environment where users enjoy spending time. Within the library itself, plants adorn the shelves in the front area, serving as an eye-catching feature in the open atrium. In addition to plants contributing to air improvement, mobile ventilation units are also utilized, as health is an aspect of social sustainability. Numerous small details enhance the quality of stay and create a personal touch, an aesthetic of approachability, and librarian warmth.

In collaboration with students from the department and the Blooming Campus initiative, a variety of sustainable activities have been deployed around the building: the central wildflower meadow in front of the main building is particularly striking in spring and summer, various self-planted plants enhance biodiversity, and behind the building, efforts have been made to progressively improve the soil (e.g., by collecting leaves or setting up worm bins for organic waste) and measures for insect-friendliness have been implemented.

The Project Idea:

As part of the FUturist call, the geoscience library aims to further develop together with its users: mobile green room dividers are intended to beautify and simultaneously make our workspaces on the ground floor more sustainable. In a frequently and intensively used space for study groups and individual work, the quality of stay is to be enhanced and a green learning space established.

Libraries are places of (green) learning. Climate and environmental protection are not a one-off event at the Geoscience Library. The staff, together with the department and users, are committed and have many ideas that are not always conventional but are creatively and proactively implemented. Not only is a large amount of literature on climate and environmental protection available, but sustainability is also practiced in the work environment. Plants improve air quality, produce oxygen, create an aesthetic focal point, calm a frustrated mind, serve as silent conversational partners, and projection surfaces. Room dividers adorned with many plants can facilitate on-site work and provide students with an environment that motivates and inspires.

Libraries are spaces for communication. The room dividers are intended to create various opportunities for social learning. The library team aims to offer the appropriate space for different needs of library use: concentrated individual work for periods of intensive learning or inspiring quiet zones for recovery, such as our "beach chair" with a view over the open atrium. This enables work in smaller as well as larger, quieter or louder groups, for example, on the north side of the library and in the study group rooms. The green room dividers are intended to help improve the acoustics on-site and thus make the premises even more flexible.

Libraries are places for the common good. Non-commercial interests or shaping young people are not at the center of library existence, but rather social sustainability, communication, information, participation, and comprehensive, self-determined education. The libraries of Freie Universität are the heart and mind of a university that actively and engagedly moves forward.

Outlook:

In its 75-year history, Freie Universität has been known for its commitment and progressiveness, both through its staff and its students. Our President, Prof. Ziegler, has declared the Biodiversity Year 2024. The Geoscience Library sets a good example: We have been actively participating in the Blooming Campus initiative with the green spaces around our building for years, planting spring flowers, perennials, fruit trees, constructing Benjes hedges and deadwood corners, improving the soil, creating habitats for insects, and also striving for a healthy microclimate in our premises. Bio room dividers for our library are an important component for a green learning environment that also meets our own standards in a "Nature Positive University."

In the medium term, the green spaces behind the library building are to be conceptually redesigned into a library garden, so that outdoor learning becomes part of the library's offering. In the long term, areas around the entire library building are to be designed to be more natural, biodiverse, and resilient.

We are very pleased to be part of a global movement for more sustainability in libraries, drawing motivation and ideas for the further development of our library from this.

Contact:

Jonas Schramm - Jonas.Schramm@fu-berlin.de