History and Structure of the Rudolf Steiner Library by Fred Paddock

              The Structure of The Rudolf Steiner Library
By Fred Paddock, Librarian Emeritus
The text that follows was written in the 1980s, when I was developing (with invaluable
help from the library trustees) the vision of a truly anthroposophical library. Where
updates for 2002 were necessary, I have noted them.
Because of the diverse functions of the library, both present and projected, there
are several different, overlapping structures. At their foundations, the functions of the
library are determined by the nature and tasks of anthroposophy. Thus the structures
ultimately should mirror anthroposophy. Anyone knowing anthroposophy who walks into
the library should be able to see by its very structure that it is an anthroposophical, living
entity and that behind it stand the formative forces that are responsible for anthroposophy
as a whole. One should see that it is clearly not an academic library, a Buddhist library, a
typical occult library, or a general library; one should even be able to tell this from the
structure, the selection, of its non-anthroposophical books.
The basic structure of the library is that of concentric circles. At the center of the
library are the works of Rudolf Steiner and within this, his primary writings. Out from
this innermost circle are the works of other anthroposophical authors in both English and
German—some from the earliest days of anthroposophy, others contemporary. The
collection of German books is not only the largest section of the library, but also the
fastest growing, reflecting the important fact that most of the seminal work in
anthroposophy has been done, and still is being done, in German-speaking lands.
Nevertheless there is a growing number of original works by English-speaking
anthroposophists. In fact, by 2002, the situation now is quite the reverse, with books in
English not only far outnumbering books in German, but also growing at an enormously
faster rate. This second section of the library also contains dozens of anthroposophical
journals, some in English, some in German. There are, in addition, a few non-anthroposophical
journals.
The outer ring consists of works by non-anthroposophists, almost all in English.
The two inner rings determine selection of these books and their arrangement.
Raying out from the center and becoming more and more prominent as they reach
the third circle are lines dividing the whole into sections, or areas. The these areas have
been formed out of the essence of anthroposophy and its task in the world today; they are
not determined by the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress. The areas are
as follows: