26 years! From June 1, 1995 to July 31, 2021, Inken Feldsien headed the University Library of the TU Hamburg. Now she is retiring. We wish her all the best and say thank you for the years under her leadership.
As a trained architect (Dipl.-Ing.) from the TU Braunschweig, she was also a professionally trained planner. This was an essential competence to lead the library and its staff actively and safely through the various change processes.
In 1995, the library was still in the midst of the complex phase of building up the book collection. Only four years earlier, it had moved from temporary premises into its new library building on campus and has since been able to open up more to library users. The introduction of an IT-supported library system for lending and research was imminent, accompanied by much turbulence. Here, the strengths that Inken Feldsien brought to the development of the library became apparent: the courage to make decisions, the interest in details, excellent networking, and an early decision in favor of a digital strategy for the library.
For us employees, this meant a high level of trust coupled with the appreciation of our knowledge, flat hierarchies and, above all, the opportunity to try out new ideas. The library was thus able to introduce many digital services that make sense for the TUHH earlier than others. And many employees have remained loyal to the library over the years, even though, or perhaps because, new personal challenges were constantly arising on the path to the library’s digital transformation.
Inken Feldsien rarely spared herself in this process, and least of all when it came to supporting others. For example, in her commitment to apprenticeship or her dedication to the conversion to SAP, which largely spared our suppliers from non-payment. She also remained true to her passion as an architect. From 2006 to 2020, she volunteered for the LIBER Architecture Working Group of European libraries.
Twenty-six years is a long time, and there is so much more we could honor. Inken Feldsien leaves behind a library that, despite its small size, is well positioned on many issues. This includes the future topic of Open Science, where research data management and research information have long since been added to the many years of support for Open Access. We hope that we can continue on our path in the same spirit.
All the best, dear Inken Feldsien!
