1 August 2023 press release

Johannes Neuer took office as the Director of the German National Library in Leipzig today. The 47-year-old media and communications scientist succeeds Michael Fernau, who took up the post in 2008 and has now retired.

Besides managing the German National Library's Leipzig premises, Johannes Neuer's work will include supervising the construction activities of the fifth extension in Leipzig. He will also help shape the strategic development of the German National Library, to which the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 in Frankfurt am Main and the German Museum of Books and Writing and German Music Archive in Leipzig also belong. Johannes Neuer is now one of the two permanent representatives of the German National Library's Director General, Frank Scholze.

From 2009 until 2018 he worked at the New York Public Library, where he was responsible for marketing, customer satisfaction and digital media in his functions as Director of Digital Engagement, Director of Customer Experience and other roles. In 2019, he returned to Germany and became the Library Director of Reutlingen-based library services provider ekz.bibliotheksservice GmbH, where he was responsible for library consulting editing, data management, media sales, marketing and communications. His tasks included developing digital services for AI-based cataloguing and curation as well as advising libraries on the conception and design of construction projects.

"I am very much looking forward to developing the DNB's offers and services still further in cooperation with my new colleagues," states Johannes Neuer. "I am particularly keen to ensure that even more people can discover and use the DNB's valuable collections in digital or analogue format and thus create their own new works."

Background

The German National Library collects, documents and archives all written publications and sound recordings published in Germany, along with foreign publications about Germany or in the German language, since 1913. These are then made available to the public. It also includes all editions of notes and resources of music. It offers a comprehensive range of services at its sites in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main along with digital services that can be accessed all over the world.

With the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing, the German National Library also has valuable and rich special collections. It regularly organises readings, exhibitions, presentations and concerts to draw attention to its treasures and promotes a culture of books, reading and music with a diverse programme of events.

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