Whether specialist and textbooks or novels, guidebooks and poetry books: visitors to the "kostBar" can now pass on used books on two new bookshelves at the Emil-Figge-Straße site and take them as gifts.
The idea for the shelves came from a project by the HEP focus group "Social Responsibility". It was ultimately implemented by the Social and Ecological Sustainability working group, with support from the CSR Office's student and research assistants. While comparable shelves have already been in place at the Sonnenstraße and Max-Ophüls-Platz campuses for some time, the offer in the "kostBar" is a new feature for the Emil-Figge-Straße campus.
The shelves in the left-hand entrance area and next to the vending machines come from the university's used furniture warehouse. In the spirit of sustainability, they now have a new purpose, explains Eva Schameitat, UAS librarian and member of the working group: "On the one hand, we make literature available here that we have removed from the library's stock. On the other hand, anyone interested is invited to post their own used copies - and of course to take the books they would like to read for free." For many years now, the library (at all three locations) has been giving away media that is no longer needed to its users. The open shelves at such a central location now make this offer visible outside the library and invite users to get involved.
The labeling on the shelves makes it possible to sort the specialist literature to be given away according to the faculties that are at home on the Emil-Figge-Straße campus: Applied Social Sciences, Architecture, Computer Science and Business Studies. The unlabeled shelves are available for all other books.
However, the project is not yet complete with the installation of the two shelves. "In a second step, we would also like to set up open bookcases outside, ideally at all three FH locations," reveals Eva Schameitat. The working group is already working on the implementation.