The basic inventory of the Art Library  — around 25,000 volumes on art and architecture and their history  — came together as the result of passionate collecting. Daniel Rohner (1948–2007) followed contemporary art closely for over 45 years and assembled a collection of exhibition catalogues and monographic works along the way. This led to a personally influenced documentation of the most recent history of art. Daniel Rohner’s library also includes many titles that are central to the overall history of architecture and art. Supplementing it is a large inventory of literature on casting techniques, restoration and sculptural art from the collector Felix Lehner.

With their collections, Daniel Rohner and Felix Lehner, the head of the Kunstgiesserei, contributed an essential substance to the Sitterwerk Foundation. United in this way, the collections are now maintained by the Sitterwerk and made accessible to the public. Progress in the administration of the Library has been taken a step further in a pilot project. The books are equipped with so-called intelligent tags. These contain the bibliographic information in a radio chip connected with an electronic reading and writing device by means of radio waves and, therefore, also with the catalogue. The reading device using radio-frequency-identification technology (RFID) is currently, and initially only temporarily, being expanded to include the entire premises of the Library. As a result, perspectives far beyond streamlining the collection open up. The constraint to use the library in a disciplined manner will become superfluous. Every book can be placed anywhere and everyone can still find it nevertheless. This results in a dynamic order for the Library, in which groups of books are created and again disperse. These represent references generated by individual users with their diverse objectives and working methods. At the interface of various interests, cross-references are created as a result of fertile coincidences that allow for unexpected insights.

Thanks to the RFID tags, it is also possible to do away with conventional library labels on the covers of the books. The bibliophilic qualities of every book are preserved and the book’s individual value as a designed medium for the transmission of knowledge and mediation of information with an ancient tradition can be maintained thanks to the most modern technology. As a result of this and the new freedom of use, the private character of the Art Library in the Sitterwerk is also preserved. The Library thus provides an intimate ambiance for festive occasions, conferences and seminars, or solitary concentration. Exhibitions also take place at loose intervals. The connections between book and art form the unifying thread for the exhibitions, which underline the thematic focus of the Library in the Sitterwerk.