A swarm of cockchafer robots buzzes across the sun-warmed parquet floor of the Central Library. One step forward, turn left, one step forward, turn right. Two girls in leggings conduct the beetle ballet, their primary school class is a guest in the "Robolab" today. Teaching how to train mechanical beetles has long been part of the remit of the staff at Hamburg's largest bookshop, as has picture book cinema and looking after a colony of ants. Because what happens next to the shelves is at least as important for the future of the library as the stock between the bookends.
The tour with bookshop director Frauke Untiedt goes quickly because she is always one step ahead of us. We meet: People in comfortable chairs, many of whom are reading on screens, crumbling toddlers in the café and a debating couple of older newspaper readers; in the youth library, a couple poring over biology books and four boys in winter jackets and woolly hats playing Fifa on the Playstation.