Finland is well known as being the ‘happiest’ country in the world, it also hosts Santa Claus’s village near the Arctic Circle, and is replete with forests and water bodies. What I discovered in Finland were its exquisite and expansive libraries.

A library often invokes images of books – rows and rows of them, and in modern times work spaces with places to plug in the laptop. The National Library of Finland in Helsinki is that, but the building and the grace of the interiors take your breath away. The main building of the National Library of Finland was designed by the architect C.L. Engel in 1836 and it was completed between 1840 and 1845. By the year of Finnish independence, 1917, the library’s collection had grown to as large as 300,000 volumes. Today it offers a quiet and enriching atmosphere for research and study. As a tourist you are welcome to walk in and quietly enjoy the sheer beauty of the décor and architecture of the building. It consists of six floors and standing under the main dome the floors are visible, lined with books. The feeling when one is there is of awe and a sense of gratitude to the accumulated knowledge of humanity the building holds.

Some distance away from the National Library is the Oodi Library – a modern, throbbing structure that from a distance seems like a wave. Inaugurated to commemorate a century of Finnish independence, the library has books, but it has much more. It is the kind of public space that inspires and attracts. It is a library of a new area – open to all, free of charge. The three storey sprawling building is opposite the National Parliament of Finland.

The three floors serve as a meeting, learning and community hub for urban dwellers. You can read, have great food, learn many skills and crafts, including the Finnish language, watch movies and events, make recordings or synthesize in well-appointed studios, and bring young children to the play area. Want to print something in 3D for free – Oodi is the place to go, want to cook with a group, dance or rehearse for a play, one of Oodi’s meeting rooms would be ideal.

In the books area on the third floor, you can spot robots picking and sorting books. They are supposed to be shy, but open up after a while! In 2025 also, the library a free public space, is spick and span. Shining as if new. Every floor we visited was bustling with people, some were cooking, others stitching, recording music, having coffee while still others were busy with the printers! People of all ages had something to do in a place that had something for everyone.

Oodi Library is the epitome of what a public space can be. For everyone. It is on the tourist map of Helsinki – the unique space kindles inside a deep desire to have similar spaces in our own lives. A place that combines learning, leisure and community, in an atmosphere of a silent hush. The hallmark of any library.

Published in Lokmat Times in May 2025