
How Helsinki Built ‘Book Heaven’ - jnieminen
https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/11/finland-public-library-photos-helsinki-books-nordic-culture/601192/
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einpoklum
This has reminded me I've not visited my town's municipal libraries in ages!

So, if you care about libraries and literacy as an aspect of society -
especially in the face of the world of brief tweets and text messages, and
disappearing wall posts - why not...

* Visit your municipality's website (or maybe any search engine)

* Look for a map or list of public libraries around you

* Go visit one and spend some time there - reading or even just tapping away at your laptop

Libraries thrive by attendance after all...

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keiferski
It sounds like a community center, not a library. I’m happy that Helsinki has
created a (rather expensive) place where people can work on computers or have
meetings - but that doesn’t make it a “book heaven” and it certainly doesn’t
help preserve and spread the notion that a book is an inherently valuable
thing, one that tends to contain deeper and more insightful knowledge that 99%
of the Internet.

~~~
yeahforsureman
Yeah, it actually sucks as a place to read books. Too many tourists and
visitors, and too few quiet, comfortable reading spaces. There are much better
libraries for such in Helsinki, although some of those good places (eg.
smaller Helsinki Uni faculty libraries) have been closed in favour of fancy
big "libraries" like this one.

~~~
MrBuddyCasino
> Yeah, it actually sucks as a place to read books.

I wonder if that means that it has failed to achieve its purpose. Libraries
were created in an age where books were scarce and expensive. This isn’t
really true anymore, except for science or art books. What has become rare are
common social spaces where you are not expected to consume. Churches used to
be that, but now they’re empty. What about „libraries“ that focus on the
social part, not the storing-paper part? Quiet places to read for people who
want to leave their apartment, maybe because they’re lonely. Book clubs with
discussions to foster intellectual exchange. The equivalent of the coffee
houses old, without the blaring pop music of todays chain stores.

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Hamuko
It's actually pretty low on books when it comes to Helsinki Metropolitan Area
Libraries.

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jnieminen
You can just order a book you want from another library's collection in the
metropolitan area and grab it from Oodi. For instance, in Pasila they have
over 1.6 million titles [1].

[1]
[https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsingin_kaupunginkirjasto](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsingin_kaupunginkirjasto)

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krn
Previous discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20809247](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20809247)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19189631](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19189631)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17111642](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17111642)

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unknown_library
If I could design a library, I would throw out all the books. I would have
lots of little rooms instead of open spaces. I would toss out all the
uncomfortable designer chairs and put in comfortable and ergonomic seats
instead.

It would really be an office instead of a library, but I think this is what
people actually want.

~~~
zozbot234
So, like WeWork? That's a nice startup idea.

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Jommi
Not really Book Heaven at all. More like Amazing Community Center. You can
host lan parties there, use studio grade audio equipment, 3d printers etc. Its
quite massive.

~~~
Jommi
More here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20812774](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20812774)

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timonoko
BTW. I think Dang had shadow-banned all Helsinki library computers. Throwaways
did not work last time I tried.

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billfruit
The single most thing that a library could do to be of more use to the public
is to stock more books, and from that respect, this does not sound that much
of a nice place, they could have a lot, lot more books given the space, but
they haven't.

~~~
asmala
In my experience, the size of the collection in any given library building is
never much of an issue as you can always order books for very low fees from
any library in the country. Because of this, the other facilities are a much
bigger value-add than a larger on-site collection.

