Germany is emphatically the home of large libraries ; there is no law of deposit wider than the individual States, and Saxony and some less important parts of the Reich have no law of deposit at all. To supply the lack of a single library, where all German books may be preserved, the national book-trade union, the Borsenverein der Deutschen Buchhandler, established one, the Deutsche Biicherei, in Leipzig in 1913 ; this is subsidized by the Reich, the Saxon State, and the city, and the books are deposited freely by a voluntary agreement of the publishers. It had 675,000 vols. in 1928. There is an active professional body, the Verein deutscher Bibliothekare, which, since 1902, has published a valu able year book. In 1921 the Austrian association joined the Ger man. The number of German universities has tended to multiply considerable collections; 1,617 libraries were registered by P. Schwenke in 1891. The Jahrbuch der deutschen Bibliotheken for 1927, which gives statistics and administrative details of 395 German libraries, makes a total of 41,000,000 vols.; in 1909 W. Erman had reckoned 190 libraries and 23,500,00o volumes.
The State and university libraries are under State control. The earlier distinction between these two classes has become less and less marked; thus the university libraries are widely used and books are borrowed extensively, especially in Prussia. In was promulgated the Leihverkehrsordnung fur die deutschen Bib liotheken, which authorized and organized mutual lending between all libraries in the country. Owing to financial exhaustion and the depreciation of the currency under 1918, German libraries were unable to acquire foreign publications, and in 1920 there was founded the Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft (emer gency union of German learning) ; to secure files of recent foreign journals, to organize exchange, and to distribute foreign publica tions among the German libraries. By edict of Jan. 5, 1926, a i national exchange bureau (Reichaustauschstelle) was formed in the Ministry of the Interior, to serve the same purposes as the Smithsonian institution.
Popular libraries (Volksbiichereien) exist in most towns, Karl Preusker formed a plan for setting them up in 1839, and four were founded in Berlin in 1850. After 1890 a number of popular libraries were established, some by municipalities, but many by associations and firms. In 1907 the Berlin City library was founded ; it now has 20 districts and 90 branches, with 400,00o books. Hamburg also has a large system.
Most of the States have a consultative office for popular libraries, and the Deutsche Zentralstelle fur Volkstiimliches Bach ereiwesen acts as a centre. The Verband Deutscher Volksbiblio
thekare (founded in 1922 as the Deutscher BUchereiverband) publishes an annual directory (1926). Very few Volksbuchereien, however, attempt the work of the public library of English-speak ing countries, and the expenditure on them is only a halfpenny per head. In Prussia since 1907, and in Baden since 1928, a coun cil deals with library matters at the Ministry of Public Instruction. Generally, the State does not concern itself with the town libra ries and the popular libraries, but there is much in common be tween these two classes. Sometimes popular libraries are under the supervision of a scientifically administered town library, as in Berlin, Danzig, etc ; elsewhere, as at Magdeburg, we see an ancient foundation take up the obligations of a public library. In Prussia from 1893, and in Bavaria, regulations are in force as to the professional education of librarians. This regulation has been in force as regards librarians in Bavaria from 1905. Through out Germany librarians are divided by qualifications into three grades. There are schools of librarianship at Berlin (1921, founded at Gottingen in 1886), Munich, Leipzig, Freiburg and Bonn.
Libraries in Berlin.-Berlin is well supplied with libraries, 268 being registered by P. Schwenke and A. Hortzschansky in 1906, with about five million printed volumes. The largest of them is the State (formerly Royal) library, which was founded and made public by the "Great Elector," Frederick William, in 1661. From 1699 the library became entitled to a copy of every book published within the royal territories, and it has received many valuable accessions by purchase and otherwise. It now in cludes 2,128,707 printed vols. and 56,810 mss. Current catalogues of accessions since 1892, and of the Prussian University libraries, also since 1898, of academic publications of German universities, etc., are printed. The catalogues of mss. are mostly in print, vols. 1-13, 16-23 (1853-1905). The library is specially rich in oriental mss. The musical mss. are very remarkable and form the richest collection in the world as regards autographs. The building, erected about 1780 by Frederick the Great, rebuilt in 1909 and since added to, houses the University library and the Academy of Sciences. There is a regular system of mutual lending, established by ministerial edict of Jan. 27, 1893, between the State library and a great number of Prussian libraries. This is the same in Bavaria, WUrttemberg and Baden; the oldest system is that be tween Darmstadt and Giessen (dating from 1837).