#11: On Libraries and Third Places
From architectural marvels to presidential libraries, and things to read. A book overload!
Hello, and welcome! This week’s newsletter is high on visual content. Let’s go.
On Libraries
As a child, I would visit the library every Friday night, usually taking out the maximum number of books. But in my twenties, I went from lending books to buying them. This resulted in a collection that got out of hand and necessitated repeated purges. Last year, I decided to limit my purchases and rejoin the local library.
One of the inspirations behind this decision was The Library Book by Susan Orlean, which is simultaneously a stunning piece of research and a true crime story. In 1986, a fire in the Los Angeles public library destroyed hundreds of thousands of books – part of The Library Book is about the search for the arsonist. The other part is about the evolution of the library in general and the role libraries play in our lives– highly interesting and entertaining. Susan Orlean is a great writer, and this book is one of my rare 5* ratings, so you know it’s good!
Libraries as a tourist destination
But back to libraries in general. I love visiting them as a tourist. I have seen the most amazing ones all over the world. Such as these – a random sample:
The one that sadly got away: the Biblioteca Vasconselos in Mexico City. I was really looking forward to visiting this one – but when we got there it was closed due to a strike…
And still on the list, I expect to see this one IRL next year:
But I want to give a special library shout-out to Helsinki, because I visited 3 libraries there last year which perfectly illustrate the changing roles of libraries.
The two photos at the top are of the Rikhardinkatu Library – the first public library in the Nordics. Beautiful building, but also quite dated with its linoleum floors and nineties furniture. The pictures below show the National Library – the oldest and largest scientific library in Finland. A classic thing of beauty, with rooms to admire and books to look at from afar.
But then! This modern beast below designed by Finnish architecture firm ALA, which was opened in 2018. It is called Oodi and it looks striking from the outside.
But most striking on the inside, is that there are hardly any books! Instead, it is a quintessential ‘third place’ (more on that later). Quote from the Oodi website:
Oodi is […] a living meeting place in the city centre on the Kansalaistori Square. [It] is a venue for events, a house of reading and a diverse urban experience. It will provide its users with knowledge, new skills and stories, and will be an easy place to access for learning, story immersion, work and relaxation. Oodi is a library of a new era, a living and functional meeting place open for all.
There are plenty of seating areas to just hang out, but more excitingly, I spotted: sewing machines and 3D printers that were free to use, tables with board games, sound proofed rooms furnished like living rooms in which people were gaming on big screens, it was amazing! It was truly a space to be creative and get inspired. I wish you’d be able to see more of it on the pictures, but since I forgot to take any pictures myself, I’ll have to make do with what I found online. No sewing machines on these pictures, unfortunately.
Third Places
But enough about Helsinki (which I LOVED and absolutely want to go back to soon), and a last word about libraries. Libraries are a great ‘third place’. If you are unfamiliar with the term third space/third place: first place is where you live, your second place is where you work or go to school, and your third place can be virtually any location that doesn't fall into the first two categories, but in which you can participate in informal public life.
More and more libraries start focusing on their third place function. With wifi, comfortable seating, desks, knitting meet-ups, concerts and other creative events, they function more as an informal social space than as a place to read or lend books, necessarily. Oodi in Helsinki is a prime example of this. But I am lucky to have some great libraries in Amsterdam too, with OBA Oosterdok (designed by Jo Coenen) as a prime third place example.
Ok - one more reading tip
This letter is meeting its length limit - but one more reading tip should fit. When talking to a Fin in a Helsinki bar, I asked him if he could recommend a book that takes place in Helsinki. He delivered: The Ice Coven by Max Seeck. This is some dark stuff! A fast paced thriller with detective Jessica Niemi in the lead - if you like it there’s a bunch more in this series with her. I ate it up.
Ok - that’s it for this newsletter. The next one will have no libraries and no books, but a lot of weird art! Here’s a sneak peak.
See you in 2 weeks for issue #12!