A public library may not label its books with „warning notices“, but must offer them for loan without comment. However, the public library is free not to offer certain books. This has now been decided by the Münster Higher Administrative Court (OVG) (Ref.: 5 B 451/25 of 7 July 2025) and ended the dispute over a notice with which the public library warned of the controversial content of a book.

The author's appeal was thus successful. While he was still in of the first instance the OVG has now recognised that his freedom of expression and general personal rights were violated by the notice. The court ruled that the cultural and educational tasks that the legislator has assigned to public libraries do not authorise a negative assessment in the form of a categorisation notice. Rather, it is the task of these institutions to provide users, as responsible citizens, with self-determined and unhindered information so that they can form their own opinions.