Infofahnder 2.0 & Co.

The digital transformation has long since arrived in almost every family. Children and young people are growing up with analogue and digital media and leisure activities at the same time. And although 70 per cent of all 4 to 13-year-olds still read books or magazines at least once a week, 50 per cent of all nine-year-olds have their own mobile phone. From the age of 13, mobile phones and the like are part of almost every child's bedroom. 92 per cent of girls and boys already have a smartphone, 55 per cent a computer and 26 per cent a tablet(Children's Media Study).

Digital school is also on the rise. The use of computers, tablets and whiteboards supports independent learning and actively involves pupils in lessons.

In view of these social developments, the city library sees its task as supporting the development of media and research skills for its users. It offers events for all age groups to teach digital media. The constantly growing demand from schools in particular shows the high level of demand and interest from teachers and pupils.

For example, the library introductions for pupils in years 5 and 6 take place using tablets. The aim is to familiarise the pupils with the possibilities of the library for school and leisure and to enable them to find their way around the library independently and use the wide range of services on offer. In the "Infofahnder 2.0" event, an interactive quiz is used in which pupils can playfully test and expand their knowledge of the library. They are strongly motivated by the competition, and other digital, playful elements such as puzzles and QR code scanners are used and lead to success. Media are found specifically in the collection, factual information is filtered out and can be used easily.

The event "The Great Word Factory", which was designed for primary school children from Year 2, is based on the interactive picture book app of the same name. Analogue and digital elements promote language awareness, active engagement with language, reading comprehension and media usage skills in a child-friendly way.

Media education programmes for teachers and educators

The "Lets play" gaming events are playful and leisure-orientated and are offered regularly every 14 days for young people aged 12 and over with media education support. Additional events during the holidays are aimed at younger children and their parents and grandparents. Holiday events for after-school groups also always include analogue and digital components in addition to the teaching of children's literature. Other new media education programmes for young people and adults of all ages are also very popular.

The regular weekly "Facharbeitssprechstunde" (term paper consultation hour) offers individual help with source research for term papers and homework for pupils in higher year groups. In the "e-book consultation hour", questions arising in connection with borrowing and using e-media from the city library are clarified. The "Fit on the Tablet" programme makes it easier for senior citizens to use the wide range of digital library services. This involves trying out the information resources on the city library's homepage, the electronic library catalogue and online media lending as well as databases. Numerous databases are available free of charge for library users to search for information: The "Online-Schülertraining Brockhaus" is an interactive learning training programme for the subjects German, Maths, English, French and Latin based on school knowledge from grades 5 to10.

The GENIOS online press portal offers the opportunity to research more than 1000 regional and national newspapers, specialist and general interest magazines and to read the articles found online. It is therefore a profound source for professional and personal further education and information. The Munzinger databases provide reliable facts on personalities from politics, sport and culture, countries, literature and important events in contemporary history. An e-learning portal is available for self-directed, personalised learning. Customers can train their knowledge in the areas of IT, languages, communication, career and self-management. The interactive e-learning courses are available around the clock. Each course can be completed at your own pace and according to your own schedule. The latest addition to the city library's digital services is the "filmfriend" streaming service. For the past quarter of a year, library users have been able to choose from over 2100 feature films, documentaries and series for children and adults, log in with their library card and watch them from the comfort of their own home.

Online offers of the Chemnitz City Library

The wealth of offers shows that the balancing act between library as an online source of information and library as a place of encounter and communication works well. It offers Chemnitz residents a wide range of media for (almost) every interest and every situation in life, as well as various ways to use them - analogue and digital, classic and modern, individual and communicative.

Statistical key figures of the Chemnitz City Library 2018: