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Studierende sitzt am Arbeitsplatz und schaut auf den Laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund

Much more than a Move: UB Dortmund 2023

Large white sign with arrow points to the building Sebrathweg 7 © Rita Sadkowski​/​TU Dortmund
Signpost to the new Sebrath-Bibliothek at Sebrathweg 7
Last year, the University Library moved out of the old Central Library building and into a replacement building on Sebrathweg, making the Emil-Figge-Bibliothek its main location on campus. Along the way, it has also ensured that library users have not noticed any restrictions on library services.

The first smooth Step towards a new Building

Sebrath Library front view with cars and trees in the foreground

A huge relocation project has been completed successfully, smoothly and with uninterrupted service for you!

Since August 2023, you will find the central services of the University Library in the Emil-Figge-Bibliothek (EFB), a new location in Sebrathweg and the Maker Space HyLec in the Co-Learning Space in front of the seminar room building.

 

Around 400,000 books and journal volumes remained freely accessible on campus, while around 650,000 volumes were placed in a storage magazine for overnight lending. The distribution between the locations has been optimized so that you will find the humanities and social sciences collections and the textbook collection in the EFB and the natural sciences and economics collections in the Sebrath-Bibliothek. In addition to the complete logistics, 96 library staff workstations have also been relocated.

Construction container, a temporary construction fence and an excavator can be seen (24.6.2024)

For the construction phase that is now beginning, TU Dortmund University and Dortmund University Library have made every effort to ensure that the range of workstations, services and literature supply can be maintained at the usual high level: A comprehensive delivery and digitization service from the UB ensures that users can choose any library location for the provision of printed literature. Less used literature from the storage magazine can be ordered overnight to the EFB and the Sebrath-Bibliothek. In order to communicate the changes caused by the interim construction work in an uncomplicated way, a construction blog has been set up in which the UB provides up-to-date information about the move out, moving back in, its services and, of course, the progress of the construction work.

Number of Learning Sites remains stable

Studiernde lernen in der EFB

"Where can I study now?" was certainly the most frequently asked question after the Central Library closed its doors for good. The number of learning sites for students was maintained despite the loss of the 1,300 sites in the vacated Central Library.

 

The learning sites in the Emil-Figge-Bibliothek and the Sebrath-Bibliothek were mostly very well attended and the newly established co-learning space at Campus North in particular, with its long opening hours until 1 a.m., was able to compensate for the loss of the Central Library. Planned in 2023, a new highlight was added in January 2024 in the form of a study area in Dortmund city center, which is also open at weekends. TU Dortmund University has rented an entire floor in the Telekom building at the top end of Westenhellweg for this purpose. All TU Dortmund University study areas can be found on the study areas map, most of the larger ones including the current occupancy rates of the learning sites.

Mulitcolored column chart, comparing the use of electronic and printed literature

The University Library's long-standing policy of preferring to offer literature electronically and therefore from any location has continued to prove its worth. This has long been so well received by students and academics at TU Dortmund University that the number of on-site loans has fallen sharply. This trend was already clearly visible before the pandemic, inevitably intensified during the coronavirus period and has continued to increase since then. TU Dortmund students and academics now mainly use electronic media. In 2023, only 1/6 of all students still borrowed printed literature at all.

 

Move, reliable Processes and further Improvements

Front view new building Dortmund University Library

Planning the interim move and adapting the services took up a lot of UB 2023's time. All processes were carefully planned, and the first optimization measures were tackled immediately after the move and commissioning. All of this took place during ongoing operations. The employees of the UB have achieved something truly extraordinary (not only) here! Beyond the move and regular operations, the UB has nevertheless managed to implement further innovations and improvements, the most important of which are listed below:

In 2024, the University Library will continue to ensure that library services remain at a high level during the new building and are further improved. Since February 2024, we have been sending you article requests directly electronically via interlibrary loan. Next, we will continue to improve the quality of the catalog, our digital navigation, search and finding space for electronic media, including in the TU app.

The new building plans are of course continuing. Even if the move planned for 2029 is still a few years away, not only will a modern and functional new building be created here, but a new library concept will also be implemented, which will result in a central service point for the entire TU Dortmund University.

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