Dating Shakespeare’s plays wasn’t just the title of a book, but also part of our schedule - pun intended - when we visited the Shakespeare Library as part of our English class with Mrs Gantert. The research library was founded in 1964 by Prof. Wolfgang Clemen, head of Shakespeare studies at LMU Munich, who managed to acquire initial funds from the VW foundation and the State of Bavaria. It collects literature, DVDs, journals and theatre reviews about Shakespeare and his works in its entirety in German and as far as the budget allows in English. Due to its renown among international scholars the library frequently receives donations, which include exotic translations of Shakespearean works, such as Klingon.
It is a reference library mostly used by students, department staff, researchers, but also dramaturgs comparing translations, all of whom can benefit from the in-house classification developed and extended by the respective chairholders.
As a small institute library it operates outside the University Library System mostly relying on a cross reference card catalogue.
We thank Bettina Boecker, head of the library, who provided us with a good impression on how to give an English introduction to a collection and offered us valuable insights into the work of an OPL.

Michaela Beißer, Susanne Gressirer (Kurs QE 3 Bibl. 2015/18)