No Expansion Building for the German National Library - Germany's National Library Faces Storage Crisis as Books Overflow
The German National Library in Leipzig is running out of storage space. With nearly 13,100 new works arriving daily, officials have started moving books to the Frankfurt branch to ease the strain. A planned expansion in Leipzig has now been cancelled, leaving the institution searching for solutions.
The library archives every German-language publication, collecting around 3,300 physical items each day alongside 9,800 digital submissions. Despite earlier plans to expand Leipzig's facilities, the project has been scrapped, removing a key long-term solution for storage.
To manage the overflow, books are being transported to Frankfurt, though exact daily figures remain undisclosed. Roughly €7 million had already been spent on planning the now-abandoned expansion. Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer has proposed changes to the legal deposit system to address the issue.
Under current rules, publishers must submit two physical copies of each work. Weimer suggests reducing this to one copy, ideally in digital form. His broader goal is to shift the system towards a predominantly digital format, easing pressure on physical storage.
The cancellation of the Leipzig expansion leaves the library with limited options. Moving books to Frankfurt offers temporary relief, but long-term solutions will depend on policy changes and further investment. The shift to digital deposits could reshape how Germany preserves its published works.
