Kooperative Speicherbibliothek Schweiz, Cooperative storage library in Büron, Switzerland

Kooperative Speicherbibliothek Schweiz is a high-tech storage facility in Büron that holds more than three million books and media items in automated container chambers accessible by robotic systems. The complex serves as a central distribution point that processes requests from member libraries and delivers ordered materials through a courier network.

The project emerged after a public referendum in November 2013 in Canton Lucerne, with construction beginning in August 2014 at this location. It represents the evolution of Swiss library cooperation traditions, reimagined through modern automated logistics and digital systems.

This facility functions as a shared collection hub where Swiss libraries pool their holdings while maintaining independent access to the full inventory. The cooperative model reflects how libraries today think together rather than in isolation, pooling resources to serve more readers efficiently.

The library is a semi-automated high-bay warehouse, not a reading room: orders placed in a member library's electronic catalogue are retrieved by a storage-and-retrieval machine, and a courier service delivers them to that library up to twice a day. Journal articles are usually supplied as digital or paper copies rather than lent.

The library is a partially automated high-bay warehouse: books sit in containers on tall racks, and automated storage-and-retrieval machines bring an ordered container to a staff member. A courier service delivers orders to the member library up to twice a day. The first module holds up to 3.1 million volumes, with room to expand to about 14 million.