Libraries of Scandinavia | The Third Place
My ambivert need for quiet time, ideas & libraries worth mentioning
Travel to distant ports offers a new lens through which the world is viewed. Why else would we wedge ourselves like sardines into a a bus with wings and trek 24 hours across three different time zones?
I’ve returned home after visiting five cities and four countries in Scandinavia with my husband and two sons. Three weeks navigating every daily decision together. A moment in time I will hold dear to my heart forever. An adventure that seems to be enjoyed more from a distance, when tensions from overwhelm and decision fatigue have faded. What remains are the experiences, the beauty and the adventure of discovering as much as we could during our short stays in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Bergen.
I did get to the librarian conference mentioned in my last update.
The excitement lay in willing myself to go, working out how to get there and remaining incognito as I collected my lanyard and name badge from the registration table. I may expand on this experience in another confession, for I certainly had to dig deep to avoid the voices in my head telling me I should not be attending, because I am not a librarian. For now, I’m sharing my photos and observations from the libraries I visited.
Finding Pockets of Quiet
As I headed into week two of my adventure in Scandinavia I thought about my sensitivity and ambivert tendencies. I recalled a quote I’d noticed on Sensitive Refuge, as we flew from Singapore to Copenhagen at the start of our looong journey from Australia to Scandinavia.
As a moderately sensitive person, I wondered how all of the unfamiliar situations I was starting to experience would increase my desire for quiet. Travelling allows me to witness sights, sounds and smells that are completely new, and this forms part of the thrill of visiting countries so far away from where I live. But as I get older and have become more tuned into my sensitivity, I’ve also realised my need for quiet time.
While I loved these new experiences, travelling can feel like an ‘assault’ on my senses, and I needed to balance each day of adventure with quiet reflection and journaling, as well as periods of time where there was limited, or no, conversation. After twelve hours of seeing the sights I would occasionally announce to my family that I had no conversation left. I journaled most mornings before they woke up. When we travelled short distances on the train and tram, I sometimes sat separately so I could recharge before the next destination.
Writing is my therapy and without it I can not properly process my emotions and experiences.
Despite my need for time alone, as I stepped off the plane in Melbourne and made my way along the boardwalk to the arrival gate I felt a deep sense of sadness. A thickness in my throat made it difficult to swallow and my eyes moistened. Our precious time together as a family unit had come to an end.
Libraries of Scandinavia
Libraries were central to the itinerary for each city and offered respite from the 18,000 steps we walked most days. The libraries of Scandinavia rekindled my sons’ interest in chess, offered a welcoming environment, inspiring design and a hub for social connection.
Helsinki University Library
The Main library in the Kaisa House is a library for humanities and social sciences.1
En route to the BIBFRAME workshop I entered University of Helsinki via UniCafe. Travelling from here by escalator to the second level I discovered the Main library in the Kaisa House and enjoyed the architectural features and modern open spaces. The library has hundreds of seats for reading and working. I then made my way to the conference, just in time for filtered coffee with oat milk.
Helsinki Central Library Oodi
Oodi is the flagship library for a nation of book lovers.2
A gift to celebrate Finland’s 100th year of independence, Helsinki’s Central Library Oodi opened in 2015. On the library’s entrance floor you can lend and return books, go to the movies, or stop for lunch. My boys did not make it past the chess tables on our first visit, while my husband and I browsed everything from the Urban Workshop and studios on the second floor, through to the reading spaces on the third floor. We reconnected with the boys for a delicious buffet lunch, and agreed we’d love Oodi to be our local library. Oodi is a symbol of equality, located on the Kansalaistori Square, opposite the Finnish Parliament House. The Citizen’s balcony on the third floor of Oodi and the entrance to the House of Parliament are on the same level to symbolise democracy and dialogue.
Helsinki Central Library Oodi was chosen as the winner of the 2019 Public Library of the Year award in the World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
National Library of Finland
The National Library of Finland is a cultural heritage organisation that is open to all and provides nationwide services to citizens, scientific communities and other societal operators.3
Keen to share these adventures with my family, I skipped the BIBFRAME tour of the National Library of Finland, and visited with my husband and boys instead. There was a stark contrast between this library’s architecture and the modern presence of Oodi, only 2.8 kilometres away.
The main building of the National Library of Finland is one of the most renowned landmarks of the early-19th century Empire architecture and is also significant among the public libraries of its time at a European level.
It was very warm in this building due to the unseasonal weather in Helsinki for mid September.
Enjoy a virtual tour of National Library of Finland here.
National Library of Sweden
We collect, preserve and give access to almost everything that is published in Sweden – from manuscripts, books and newspapers to music, TV programmes and pictures.4
The National Library of Sweden is a unique building with the blend of traditional and modern architecture. Our visit to this library was accidental. Master 19 needed a place to study one morning, and my default when looking for quiet places is to google ‘libraries near me’.
Enjoy a virtual tour of National Library of Sweden here.
Stockholm Public Library was temporarily closed for renovation and the National Library of Sweden was a short walk from our apartment. The library houses a restaurant and separate cafe that serves delicious salad rolls.
The National Library of Sweden houses Codex Gigas (known as the Devil’s Bible).
Royal Danish Library | Black Diamond
On the edge of Copenhagen Harbour sits The Black Diamond as a beacon of culture. The Black Diamond is the Royal Danish Library's cultural centre in Copenhagen with lots of events all year round. The Black Diamond opened in 1999, and was built to fit with the original library building from 1906.5
The combination of the old and the new is part of this library’s charm. My fear of heights kicked in as we walked the bridge within the library to appreciate the views offered by this feat in Danish design.
The Black Diamond was designed by the Danish architect group Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.
Copenhagen Main Library & Copenhagen University Library Fiolstræde
It was the last morning before we were due to leave Copenhagen and head to Oslo when I decided to check out the Central Library in Copenhagen. Like Oodi, I’d be thrilled if this was my local library. It offered many different spaces and I loved seeing a number of Dads reading with their young children.
After enjoying my coffee and cardamom bun at Democratic Coffee on the ground floor I checked my map and discovered we were a short walk from Copenhagen University Library Fiolstræde. ‘Wow, just wow’, one of my sons said often during our trip, and this is most suitable way to respond to the beauty of the Old University Library in Copenhagen.
If you’re planning to visit to Copenhagen University Library Fiolstræde, there is a fee to enter and tours are available.
Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo Public Library
Knowledgeable library staff invite you to study, learn and enjoy - on your own terms.6
Deichman Bjørvika is Oslo's main library offering six floors with literature, reading and study spaces, stages, cinema hall and workshops for young and old. This library is a hub for social connection where we enjoyed many comfortable spaces to read, study, work, play chess, listen to music, eat, meditate and be. If you are planning a trip to Oslo this library must be on your list of places to experience.
Deichman Bjørvika was chosen as the winner of the 2021 Public Library of the Year award in the World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
The international architecture competition to design Oslo's new central library was won by Lundhagem in collaboration with Atelier Oslo back in 2009. The librarians wanted a house that would inspire visitors to explore all the new facilities and activities the modern library can offer, and they certainly delivered against this brief!
Bergen Public Library & University of Bergen Library
Bergen Public Library is the second largest public library in Norway. The present institution was founded in 1872, but is based on much older library traditions in the city. I particularly liked the children’s section of the library, with space dedicated to reading nooks. We also visited the University of Bergen Library and noted this was the only library on our travels where we had to pay to use the toilets.
The Third Place
On my return to Melbourne I was sharing my library experiences, whilst on a walk with my niece. She mentioned the idea of libraries being the third space. On further investigation I discovered that, in sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home (‘first place’) and the workplace (‘second place’). Libraries are an example of third places, as are churches, cafes, bars, clubs, gyms, and book shops.
‘Third Place’ and ‘Third Space’ are often used interchangeably. Third Space Theory is a postcolonial sociolinguistic theory of identity and community attributed to Homi K. Bhabha. ‘The Third Space’ is also the title of Adam Fraser’s book and a phrase he has copyrighted.
One could also view The Great Good Place by Henry James, as a precursor to the modern understanding of the third place, portraying a quiet, restorative haven where one can step away from life’s pressures to regain clarity and peace.
With love and gratitude,
KPH
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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which I live and pay my respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
National Library of Finland, Helsinki
National Library of Sweden, Stockholm
The Black Diamond, Copenhagen
Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo Public Library
Love this Karen. It's a great pleasure seeing these libraries. I also loved your simile about flying and sardines. That's a visual I shan't forget, haha!
Wow amazing beautifully and sensitivity sculptured. 😩🥰