The Best Libraries in the Nordics

Norway and Finland

Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo stands on the harbour front across from the Opera House. In Helsinki, Oodi near the central station has three floors and a roof terrace, and the National Library of Finland across from the cathedral is a building of the 1840s by Carl Ludvig Engel with a rotunda of book galleries.

Sweden

Malmö City Library joins a castle-like building of the early 1900s to a glass extension in Slottsparken. Stockholm Public Library, by Gunnar Asplund, was completed in 1928; its round hall is lined with books on several levels. Lund University Library is an ivy-covered building.

Denmark

The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen joins its old building to the Black Diamond on the waterfront. Dokk1 stands on the harbour front in Aarhus, and the library in the Culture Yard in Helsingør overlooks the harbour on the way to Kronborg.