Already at a very early stage the German scholar and librarian Georg Minde-Pouet, who became director in May 1917, had a clear idea of the problems of the Deutsche Bücherei. He addressed these to the administrative board, saying in July 1917 that the war collection of the Deutsche Bücherei was far behind those of other collections, both quantitatively and in terms of content. As there were no more funds for any further acquisitions, he recommended restricting the collection and only to acquire that which was relevant to the collection of the Deutsche Bücherei. The wartime constraints that dominated the everyday life of the library were dealt with internally at the time, and were made public only after the end of the war.