It's a treasure 46km long, in places 300 years old and it must be maintained at a temperature of exactly 20 degrees Celsius and between 40 and 60 percent humidity.
Exactly 104 employees are occupied in preserving this treasure, one which is growing by a kilometer every year.
Books -- lots of them -- are what this treasure is all about. It is the German Central Library for the Economic Sciences in the northern city of Kiel and is one of the largest book collections in the world.
More than 2.5 million books are stored in the new building of the Kiel Institute of World Economics of Kiel University. Each year, 40,000 new volumes are added to the collection, and lined up on the shelves they measure nearly 1km.
Besides the books, the library also has countless CD-ROMs and microfilms, in addition to what the Kiel institute is most proud of -- its collection of publications. Among the magazines are 100,000 "dead titles" -- publications up to 200 years old and no longer in print or circulation.
Then there are the 16,000 publications currently being published and assiduously collected. Be it a business newspaper from Kazakhstan or Cambodia, or financial publications from Cameroon or Canada, they can be found here.
From Syria alone there are 11 business publications. And even the central African state of Swaziland, where King Mswati III rules, is represented with three magazines.
The library has 2.4 million marks (US$1.11 million) at its disposal to spend each year for new books and publications.
Then there are donations, such as when the widow of some economics professor is glad to find a place for her late husband's private library, according to librarian Monika Zarnitz.
A similar collection to that in Kiel can be found only at the London School of Economics or the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
In Kiel, the clients include students and teachers, as well as multinational corporations.
"When Volkswagen wants to invest somewhere, then they often will read here about the stability, culture and investment climate in the country," says Horst Thomsen, the Kiel library director. He says the biggest customer is none other than the WTO.
Clients of this size must dig more deeply into their pockets for the library's services than the simple student, who may borrow books free of charge.
Books from the Kiel library are sent to borrowers throughout Europe, at a cost of around 15 marks per volume.
But it is more costly when a borrower needs some consulting advice about the books. "If somebody has no idea whatever, then we will draw up a list of the literature," Zarnitz said. What is the dream of many a helpless university student costs all of 30 marks.
But Thomsen is not satisfied with supplying only this kind of help.
"We are not some dusty library, but rather a modern services enterprise," he says.
People want more and more material and have less and less time, so that suddenly a market, and even competition, has evolved. Thomsen is now thinking of establishing a call center to provide over the telephone the information contained in the Kiel library's books.
In addition, he sees the library becoming a "navigator through the Internet" for corporate customers.
But despite CD-ROMs and the Internet -- "the network has its limits," Thomsen says -- it will still be books which are the supreme source of knowledge for people.
Information on the printed page has always been the property of the economy, long before there was even the science of economics.
This discipline is widely held to have begun some 225 years ago when the Scottish political philosopher Adam Smith wrote the classic Wealth of Nations.
Among the treasures in Kiel -- stored not too hot, and not too cold -- is a copy from the first edition of the Smith masterpiece which was published in 1776.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College