Strategy

UB2035 – the strategy of the University Library of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

From June 2024 to June 2025, the University Library focused on its future within the strategy project UB2035. The result is a strategy paper in which we have defined the priorities of our work for the coming years. View the full text of the strategy here (in German):

 

   

    Strategy of the University Library of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 

    published in 2025

    licensed under the Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0

    read the strategy on the edoc-server (in German)

  

  

  

 

Here are the key points of our strategy:

The University Library's vision for the future: shaping knowledge, opening spaces

We understand the University Library as a place where knowledge is created, exchanged and preserved. Our library aims to be a place of collaboration, encounter, and networking. It provides open and reliable access to scientific findings and understands itself as a competent and indispensable partner to the scientific community.

The roadmap to UB2035

The University Library has developed a roadmap to realise its vision for the future. This comprises ten key areas of action:

  1. The University Library for Humboldt-Universität: The University Library is a reliable service provider for the entire HU and tailors its further development to the needs of HU.
  2. Development of services tailored to needs: The University Library consistently tailors its services to the needs of its target groups. For this, we will be working with service portfolio management and conducting usage research in future.
  3. Open learning, working and meeting spaces: the University Library is primarily responsible for the supervised and structured provision of learning, working and meeting spaces at HU.
  4. Research-related services for Open Science: The University Library supports research through a wide range of services. It is committed to the development of Open Science and is the central location for publication services at HU.
  5. Digital transformation at the University Library: The University Library is actively shaping digital transformation by creating a digital environment and promoting digital skills. It is digitizing its holdings and the HU's historical records (digital archive) and plays a central role in the digitization of collections at HU and BUA.
  6. Sustainability: We understand the University Library as a green library that strives to act in a socially and technologically sustainable manner.
  7. Internationalization: The University Library is committed to offering its services in both languages (English/German) and invests in the multilingualism of its staff.
  8. Social responsibility for diversity and democracy: The University Library sees libraries as places of democracy. We stand for diversity and openness, and our services are accessible to all.
  9. Flexible and functional organizational structures in the University Library: The University Library is a learning organization with functional structures representing clear responsibilities and standardized work processes.
  10. The University Library as an attractive and sustainable place to work: We are increasingly focusing on strategic personnel development through targeted training and further education, especially for our management staff. We have a shared understanding of leadership and ongoing team development.

About the UB2035 project

We developed the University Library's strategy starting in June 2024 as part of the year-long UB2035 strategy project. Permanent project committees (steering committee, project team) addressed the strategic and operational issues of the project. In addition, we had a feedback group consisting of University Library staff who provided feedback on the project’s progress and the content developed. The project received consulting support from Artop. All University Library staff and other HU members were involved at regular intervals through workshops or information events. Despite this clear focus, the project was flexible and open to adjustments. During the process, we learned a lot about what the project needed next and responded agilely. By the end of the project in June 2025, the first measures had been designed or already implemented. The strategy paper provides a clear plan for the next steps in implementing the strategy. With the strategy developed, the University Library is entering a new phase of implementation and organizational development.

Contact

Throughout the project, we have experienced repeatedly that exchanging ideas with members of Humboldt-Universität and other libraries is very enriching for the process. Therefore, you are warmly invited to get in touch with us!

The University Library's directorate and the department heads played a key role in developing the strategy. You can find their contact information here. The project was led by the Director General of the University Library, Martin Lee.