ZBW welcomes Christiane Müller as its new Library Director
Kiel/Hamburg, den 19. März 2026: Kiel/Hamburg, 19 March 2026: The library division at ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics has a new director. Christiane Müller took up the post of Library Director on 1 March. In her new role, she is responsible for the strategic management and further development of the ZBW Library and represents the ZBW in library matters both in Germany and abroad.
As of 1 March 2026, Christiane Müller, a lawyer, librarian and information manager, has been appointed Library Director and is thus a member of the ZBW’s three-person management team, alongside the Scientific Director, Professor Dr Klaus Tochtermann, and the Head of Administration, Axinia Braunisch.
Against the backdrop of current transformations and challenges in academic librarianship, the new Library Director will focus on the strategic development of the ZBW Library. These include, in particular, digital transformation and dealing with the effects of AI, the expansion of robust open-access infrastructures, managing licensing and publication models, the development of user-centred learning spaces, and networking with the national and international library community.
Christiane Müller on taking up her post: “I am delighted to be joining the ZBW at such an exciting time: Academic libraries are undergoing profound change. The ZBW in particular, as a research-led library that both develops new learning and working scenarios for its users at a local level and organises access nationally and internationally, is in the midst of a transformation process. My aim is to provide guidance during this phase: What are merely short-term distractions or irrelevant trends? Where, on the other hand, are developments emerging that we wish to use to shape our structures and priorities in the long term?”
Christiane Müller brings a wealth of experience to the role. From 2021 to 2025, she successfully established the library for the international fellows at THE NEW INSTITUTE in Hamburg, a research college founded in 2020. There, she also initiated and managed strategic partnerships and collaborations. Prior to this, Christiane Müller worked at the University Library of Tübingen from 2017 to 2021 in the Copyright Unit and as a subject librarian. During this time, she developed training and advisory services tailored to specific target groups, particularly on issues relating to open-access publishing. In 2019, she took over the subject departments for Political Science and Law and, in this capacity, participated in a pilot project on Patron Driven Acquisition.
Other positions include roles in the legal sector. From May 2012 to September 2013, Christiane Müller worked as a legal clerk at the German Bundestag, including for the Enquete Commission on ‘Internet and Digital Society’. From October 2013 to September 2015, she completed her library traineeship at the Berlin State and Central Library, where she subsequently served as project and innovation manager for the Association of Berlin Public Libraries (VÖBB). From 2018 to 2023, she served as a volunteer member of the Legal Commission of the German Library Association.
Her academic background includes a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Humboldt University of Berlin (October 2013 to September 2015) and a degree in Law from the University of Tübingen, the University of Münster and Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary (2004 to 2010). In 2010, she passed the first state law examination with distinction at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm. The university component of the state examination focused on copyright law.
Guido Wendt, State Secretary at the Ministry of General and Vocational Education, Science, Research and Culture of the State of Schleswig-Holstein and Chairman of the ZBW Foundation Board, stated: “We are delighted that Christiane Müller, with her strategic, analytical and communicative skills, will play a key role in shaping the future development of the ZBW and thereby further enhance the visibility of Schleswig-Holstein as a centre of scholarship throughout Germany and across Europe.”
