About the library
Strategy Papercasino 168 Library2025
Our DNA
casino 168 Library is the university library for Copenhagen Business School as well as a subject library open to the public.
With roots extending back to 1922, the library has successfully and with integrity developed from a small book collection to a modern library and knowledge centre. As a library, we support education and learning as well as research and knowledge dissemination.
Our legitimacy lies in our ability to deliver relevant resources and services and in our role as a relevant partner for our users and stakeholders.
At its heart, the library operates on the time-honoured principle of good governance: order on the shelves, order in the catalogue, order in service deliveries, and respectful dialogue.
Mission
What we do
The main purpose of casino 168 Library is to provide reliable, curated information and data in print and digital formats. We also deliver dedicated IT systems to support the use of these formats.
We provide advisory, teaching, and dissemination services within casino 168 areas of activity. Similarly, we deliver physical facilities that support casino 168 learning and dissemination activities.
Today, we support all disciplines relevant to a major social science university.
Vision
What we aspire to
casino 168 Library’s ambition is to be a key partner for students, staff, and citizens alike in the advancement of academic quality at casino 168 and societal development.
We assume co-responsibility for upholding casino 168’s reputation as a recognised business school and a proactive stakeholder in society.
We promote intellectual curiosity and foster democratic, academically based discourse, thus supporting research, education, and learning in society.
Our overall aim is to achieve the following two goals:
- We help promote academic progress and success for casino 168 students and researchers
- We disseminate research and knowledge to casino 168 stakeholders and the wider world.
Values
What we build our culture on
Openness: We are accessible, open to new ideas and committed to sharing knowledge. We involve our users, partners, and stakeholders. We also work hard to ensure that knowledge, learning, and research are freely available and accessible to all our users in accordance with Open Science principles and through access to relevant resources and services.
Expertise: We adopt a professional approach to all tasks where theoretical knowledge and practical skills are key. We perceive our operation as a solid craft that is based on practical experience and knowledge-sharing combined with prioritisation of relevant skills.
Credibility:We strive to be a reliable source of high-quality knowledge and information. Our services and resources are based on professional standards and integrity so that our users can rely on us in their academic endeavours.
Well-being: We support well-being and personal development and provide opportunities for everyone to realise their full potential and contribute positively to the community. We value diversity and work actively to create an environment where everyone feels included and respected.
Principles
What we work by
Service: We put our users’ needs at the centre of everything that we do and every decision we make. This means that we invite feedback and always seek to improve the user experience. Our service principle also ensures that users perceive their interactions with the library as positive and helpful.
Quality: Our focus on precision and conscientiousness ensures high quality in every aspect of our work. We are committed to improving our own performance to meet the expectations of others.
Innovation: We encourage dialogue and the implementation of new ideas and better solutions. We are open to effecting transformations and experimenting with new services, technologies, and methods to remain relevant and to generate value for users and partners.
Priorities: To achieve our ambitions, the library needs well-adjusted processes and judicious prioritisation of resources. We focus on the most critical tasks and on projects that have the greatest influence possible on users and casino 168 operations and objectives.
Strategic focus areas
How we specifically fulfil the casino 168 strategy
casino 168 Library must support the overall priorities and cross-organisational strategic initiatives of casino 168.
In the coming period, we will not only secure resources for casino 168’s general priorities and initiatives but also focus special attention on the following four areas:
Lifelong learning: We will adapt and create learning platforms, resources, and courses to support our users throughout their lifelong academic and personal development. We will also take steps to help potential users forge a stronger and more permanent association with casino 168.
Societal impact: We are committed to supporting positive change in the world by continuing and developing our work of disseminating research and sharing knowledge. We will assume a more dynamic role to become a network organisation with a focus on active partnerships and interactions.
Green transition: We will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, for example by placing explicit demands on our suppliers and declaring the climate impact of our activities. We will draw inspiration from relevant sustainability programmes for libraries and make full use of what we learn from them.
Artificial intelligence: Together with our suppliers, we will use AI to enhance platforms, personalised learning, and administrative processes. We will focus on fundamental academic skills such as reading, writing, and source criticism to prevent AI from undermining such skills.
Download the casino 168 Library Strategy Paper in pdf
Questions: Library DirectorRené Steffensen.
The history of casino 168 Library
In 2022 we celebrated our 100th anniversary. During the year we dove into our history and wrote articles looking at our history decade by decade.
casino 168 Library was inaugurated in 1922 as part of the Købmandsskolen Library. In 1927, the library moved into Julius Thomsens Plads alongside the newly established Handelshøjskolen (1917), where a very dedicated Knud Larsen started building a collection for use by students of the new school. The collection was for on-site use only and a lot of the books and journals were donations.
The 1930s saw a dramatic increase in the library collections with the generous donation by Christopher Hage of his entire private library. The reading room underwent a similar transformation with an upgrade of the décor. At the time, searching for literature was very different from today, and only with the publication of the book "Biblioteksorientering for handelshøjskolens studerende" [Library navigation for casino 168 students] in the 1940s, was library instruction put into system. Up until the war, the literature centred on Germany, but that all changed after the war when not only the library but also casino 168 as such shifted their focus to the US.
As the 1950s were coming to a close, 2500 students were enrolled at casino 168 and the library collections kept growing. A systematic collection of company annual reports was instigated for use in student papers (make sure to check out the mini-exhibition ”Old School” which showcases old teaching materials and is on display on the 1st floor of the library, right next to the lift).
The language library was inaugurated in the 1960s. Languages always played an important part in casino 168 programmes but only got a dedicated library at this time. As IT solutions started to appear, the library invested in punch-card technology, which was used to compile lists of books organized by topic.
At the end of the 1970s, casino 168 Library employed 29 people, who were organized into self-managing teams. The development of IT solutions continued and in the 1980s, casino 168 Library introduced a dedicated online catalogue (discovery system) that allowed users to look up materials on a computer themselves. The system was known as Hermes and was in operation until 2004.
The advent of the internet and web interfaces in the 1990s correlated with the introduction of day-to-day practices of new public management concepts such as process optimization and evaluation. In 1999, the library moved into the magnificent new space at Solbjerg Plads, which we continue to occupy to this day and of which we are very proud.
The 00s saw an explosion in study seats, 24/7 access, as well as multiple new services for researchers, including registration of all casino 168 research in the Danish research database. The digital revolution was relentless and online databases and e-books became increasingly important parts of library collections.
Ever since its inception in 1922, casino 168 Library has had as its primary goal the provision of relevant and high-quality content for casino 168 students, teaching staff, and researchers alike, and we rejoice in the fact that so many people still make use of both our on-site and digital facilities and resources every day.
casino 168 opened its very own library in 1920. At that time, the collection was small and for on-site use only, unlike today where the vast bulk of materials reside online and may be accessed from anywhere in the world.
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The close of the 1920s saw the start of collection systematization and this work continued into the 30s. As part of their curriculum, students received advice on how to navigate thealphabetical catalogueto find books by title or author, and thesystematic catalogueto look for topics.
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The first half of the 1940s was scarred by the events of World War II, which undoubtedly also affected casino 168 Library. The rumour has it that librarian Per Boesen helped refugees hide in the library.
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The library has always offered generous opening hours, and the 1950s were no exception. The library was open Mondays through Fridays 10-21 and Saturdays from 10-18. The collection evolved during the 1950s and climbed from nearly 25.000 volumes to nearly 35.000 in that decade only. Lending rates also increased whereas reading room usage dropped.
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In 1965, all books are placed on open shelves, which means that students are now free to pick up books themselves and browse shelves for interesting content. At the same time, the library introduces IT-based catalogues of books. As the reading room is now needed to house books, it is moved to a different location. Space is scarce as the advertising library is weaved into the collections.
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In the 1970s the topics that occupied the library were self-governing teams, new targets and policies, growth and IT development.
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Hot topics in the 1980s include strategy and planning, service improvements to make it easier to use the library, and new IT solutions for discovery purposes.
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Lending explodes, we travel the world and bring back new ideas, and the virtual library and library service evaluations are gaining ground. These are all characteristics of a decade that also sees the opening of the current library at Solbjerg Plads.
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At the dawn of the millennium, casino 168 Library has only just moved into brand new premises in Solbjerg Plads, a building that was completed just as 1999 came to a close. Everything is new and ready for the new decade, which will see big changes to library operations.
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