Karin Fleischmann works as a library administrator at the Departmental Library Wechloy. Originally from Franconia in southern Germany, one of the things she likes most about her job is the team spirit among the library staff.

Uni-Info: You have a lot to do with books in your job. Do you enjoy reading in your spare time, too?

Fleischmann: I started reading when I was six years old and still enjoy it today. I like historical non-fiction, but also thrillers and novels – the full spectrum.

Uni-Info: How did you come to work here in Oldenburg?

Fleischmann: I originally come from Franconia, I’m a qualified librarian and I worked for some time in the library at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. My husband moved to Bremen for work reasons in 2000, and that’s how I came to this region, too. I then co-founded a neighbourhood library for children in Delmenhorst.

Uni-Info: A library for children?

Fleischmann: Yes, that tied in with my personal interests back then, since I had small children of my own. But the little ones have grown up quite a bit since then (she chuckles). After a spell working at the Bundeswehr Logistics School I saw a job advertisement for Oldenburg University Library in 2018, applied, and have been working here at the Departmental Library Wechloy ever since.

Uni-Info: What are your tasks there?

Fleischmann: I help researchers with their literature research, do inventory management and view new publications from Germany and abroad. I also work at the Information Desk – at Haarentor campus too, by the way. I like the fact that my work is very varied and at the start of the day I often don't know what tasks will come my way. No two days are the same.

Uni-Info: What kind of questions do you answer at the Information Desk?

Fleischmann: We help people with their literature research, of course, but we also help in other ways. Students, employees and people who live here in Oldenburg all come to us. In Wechloy in particular, we also have a lot of international students whom we help with bureaucratic matters every now and then. Sometimes it can get quite complicated: once we helped a Vietnamese student to get the medical degree he had earned in Romania recognised in Germany.

Uni-Info: What do you like about the university?

Fleischmann: First of all, the team spirit. There’s a real sense of togetherness here. People are very friendly, we’re all on a first-name basis and we support each other. Secondly, this is one of the most beautiful libraries I know. The Wechloy library has a wonderful, meandering architecture, a bit like a snake. And you’re always surrounded by greenery. I like that.

Interview: Henning Kulbarsch