Before we left the United States all three of us made reservations to tour the library at 2:00PM on July 17, 2012. We arrived at the Anna Amalia Library early. We bought three tickets and were ready to pick up the audio tour when the guides objected to my husband's backpack and my purse. We were willing to put the backpack in a locker. But the purse had $5000.00 in cash in euros. I couldn't risk handing it over for any reason. Besides, I thought it very unreasonable to ask a lady to leave her purse behind. Our son continued with the tour. My husband and I went to the gift shop, then left to go to the City Schloss Museum where we encountered the same problem. At least one of us was able to admire the well-preserved books from the time of Goethe. Maybe the over-reaction on the part of the staff was due to the fire a few years back, but their attitude is ridiculously impractical. P.S. Our son told us that they made him put slippers over his shoes when touring the inside of the library. These people really need their heads examined.