From left to right: Anne-Kathrin Bernsdorf and Katharina Loos (Burg Library) as well as Ruth Heftrig and René Schäffer (BBK).
Two contemporary visual arts institutions in Halle (Saale) have launched a collaboration that will benefit both partners, especially researchers, students and visual artists: From now on, the library of Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle will receive a collection of books from the library of the Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. as a permanent loan (deposit) every year. The BBK library, which was established in 2019, consists largely of artists’ monographs, catalogs and anthologies on contemporary art in Saxony-Anhalt – many of which were donated to the BBK by local artists.
Particularly exciting for the Burg is the addition of numerous copies of so-called gray literature, which are not subject to compulsory circulation and are therefore rarely found in academic libraries. The Burg Library is thus expanding its holdings to include relevant contemporary literature, often in small print runs, which it can only rarely access via the usual procurement channels. The BBK and its members will benefit from the greater visibility and better usability within the framework of a renowned specialist library.
The first delivery comprises around 150 publications. BBK representatives René Schäffer (member and co-initiator of the library project) and Ruth Heftrig (managing director) handed over the first delivery to the head of the university library Katharina Loos and her colleague Anne-Kathrin Bernsdorf. The holdings will be incorporated into the castle’s online library catalog in the coming months.
The history of the BBK library:
In September 2019, a member project by René Schäffer and Andrey Bobb gave the go-ahead for the establishment of a library of the Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Sachsen-Anhalt e.V., in which publications by contemporary artists in our region were collected, including gray literature. The BBK library currently comprises around 300 volumes, including a small old collection from the GDR era, and invites visitors to browse in the foyer of the BBK office. From time to time, volumes are lent out for academic research, but the BBK Saxony-Anhalt is unable to provide a regular lending service, especially as the office is only open Mon-Wed from 10 am to 4 pm. The cooperation was unanimously approved by the general meeting of the BBK Saxony-Anhalt in spring 2024 and sealed in a contract between Burg and BBK in fall 2025.