Name of the Library: Vorarlberger Landesbibliothek / Vorarlberg State Library
Parent Organisation: Vorarlberger Landesregierung / Vorarlberg provincial government
Street Address: Fluher Straße 4, 6900 Bregenz
Postal Address: Fluher Straße 4, 6901 Bregenz, Austria
Telephone : +43 (0) 5574/511-44005
Web Address: http://www.vorarlberg.at/vlb
Library Email: landesbibliothek@vorarlberg.at
Type of Library :Regional Library
Population served: population of Vorarlberg state and the nearby region of Lake Constance
Project Type: Conversion
Size (square metres): 3.860 m2
Date of Completion: 1986
Architect: Adolf Gaudy (Convent building and church 1907-1915)
Description
Vorarlberg State Library has been initially founded in 1904 as a library besides the Vorarlberg State Archive and reorganized in 1977 as an independent scientific library with universal alignment. Since 1986 the library is situated in its converted new location above the city of Bregenz on the way to Gebhardsberg hill with view to Lake Constance.
The modern made of glass entry is connecting the formerly two buildings from very different periods: the small gothic castle of “Babenwohl” with its origin back to the 14th century and its heydays in the 16th and 19th century, now used for administration, and the classicistic formerly convent building of the swiss Benedictine order from the very early 20th century, now used for the public library. St. Gallus´ Church as an important part of the convent is now containing the wonderful “Kuppelsaal”, a hall with a 36 metres high dome, now adapted for open access to thousands of books too and very popular for public events.
The main duties of the Vorarlberg State Library are to be an universal scientific library for the general public and the educational institutions in the region, to be the cultural memory and literature archive of Vorarlberg and the region around and a meeting point for longlife learning and different events.
The library is offering hybrid holdings containing manuscripts, books and journals as well as audio-visual media and all kinds of e-content. And the Teaching Library is giving lessons on informed society and on doing research to more than two thousand high-school graduates every year.
1001 Libraries to see before you die 