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From autumn 2022, Dr Carolin Schreiber will take over the management of the newly formed "Manuscripts and Historical Prints" department at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. The two departments of Historical Prints and Manuscripts had already been merged in April 2022. The two subject areas, which are closely linked in terms of content, often face identical challenges, which is why the merger is intended to promote synergies.

Carolin Schreiber is currently head of the Manuscript Centre at the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Born in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz in 1971, she studied English and Romance languages and literature at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and completed her doctorate on a subject related to historical linguistics and medieval literature.
After teaching English medieval studies at the universities of Munich and Göttingen, she switched to librarianship in 2002. Following her traineeship at the Bavarian State Library, she worked there as a research librarian in the Manuscripts and Old Prints Department until 2017, when she took over the management of the BSB's Manuscript Centre, which is the largest of its kind in Germany. Her responsibilities include designing and managing the Manuscript Centre's cataloguing and digitisation projects and advising Bavarian libraries in these areas. She is also currently coordinating the BSB's work packages in the DFG-funded Manuscript Portal cooperation project, which is being developed as a central digital starting point for working with and on the manuscript tradition in Germany.

Carolin Schreiber explains with regard to the management of the department at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin: "For me, it is essential to create improved, contemporary access to the department's important historical materials for academics and users, to further expand basic academic research on the collections and to react flexibly to new usage scenarios - such as in the digital humanities. In addition, structures must be established that, on the one hand, are geared towards the various materials as before and, on the other hand, exploit synergies in overarching cross-sectional tasks such as use and digitisation."

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK: "With the appointment of Ms Schreiber, the State Library has created the personnel basis for the comprehensive further development of the Manuscripts and Historical Prints Department and for ensuring its future viability in the national and international library world."

Achim Bonte, Director General of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin: "Carolin Schreiber is a particularly experienced, well-connected expert and proven leader. I am convinced that she will lead the outstanding team of the library's largest special department very successfully into the future."

The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is one of the largest and most capable libraries in Europe. It develops world-class knowledge resources and aims to promote international exchange and free access to information using state-of-the-art technologies. Its collection of printed materials alone comprises almost 12 million volumes, in addition to numerous unique materials in eight special departments.

The Manuscripts and Historical Prints Department guarantees the international availability and visibility of unique collections (manuscripts, incunabula, bequests, autographs, rare prints and graphic collections, publishers' archives). The department is also responsible for the historical book holdings. The team of provenance researchers at the State Library is also based in the department.

https://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/die-staatsbibliothek/abteilungen/handschriften-und-historische-drucke

DGF project manuscript portal: https://handschriftenportal.de/projekt/

Press photo: https://www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html