The BBF Kindly Asks for Donations

In the night from February 26 to 27, 2021, intruders entered our premises. The burglars destroyed the drains of the washbasins in the toilets on the second floor and turned on the taps, causing water to run into the BBF‘s newly renovated public rooms on the floor below, which had just been reopened in November 2020. Not only the rooms, but also our holdings were badly affected, including historic prints from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, there especially the collection of pedagogical journals published between 1830 and 1945, which is unique in Germany in its scope and completeness. Furthermore, holdings from old teacher libraries only recently acquired to fill gaps in our collection of pedagogical literature from the 19^th and early 20^th century were marred. The BBF is one of the largest research library specialized in (historical) educational literature and resources with more than 760,000 items.

Emergency measures were initiated immediately and prevented losses in these holdings as well as we can tell so far, but we will have to restore numerous volumes professionally at great expense, as you can see on the pictures above.

In the rescue measures, priority was given to the historical holdings that could not be replaced, but the reference library in the reading room and the acquisitions of recent years were also severely affected. Probably more than five hundred volumes, especially important reference works and research literature, are so badly damaged that they cannot be restored or the cost of doing so would exceed that of finding a replacement. As a research library, however, it is essential for us to be able to make this research literature available to our users as completely as possible.

About 2,000 volumes were damaged in such a way that further measures are necessary, whether restoration or replacement. The BBF cannot raise the necessary sum from its own funds. Therefore, we need your help and kindly ask you to donate. Even small sums will help us!

You can send us your donations for the restauration of books or the replacement of destroyed volumes via the
Förderkreis Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung e.V.
(i.e. Friends of the BBF | Research Library for the History of Education):

Donation account:

Förderkreis Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung e.V.
IBAN: DE80 1203 0000 0000 4465 42
BIC/SWIFT: BYLADEM 1001

We will also gladly answer any questions you may have:

Contact:

Dr. Stefan Cramme
Head of the Library

E-mail: YmJmQGRpcGYtaW5zdGl0dXQuZGU=
Phone: +49 (030) 29 33 60 - 657

Our press release about the burglary

Donation Request (PDF)