The Zugschwerdt lending library (Bad Reichenhall) contains approx. 1.600 predominantly German, but also French publications, mainly from the period 1840 - 1910. It represents a typical example of one of the small-town lending libraries that developed in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, which offered the general population access to widely read literature, mostly in novel form. It is thus of particular interest for research into the social history of popular reading materials and the lending library as an instance of literary mediation.

The collection, which was acquired antiquarian by Paderborn University Library in 1989, is housed in a closed stacks at Paderborn University Library. It is indexed in the library catalogue. An overview of the titles contained in the collection can be found here.