RADICAL BOOKWORMS

Pioneering Bookworms

‘Mind-Building’ Shows How Libraries Hold a Special Place in Finland’s Past and Future • ANNA GAWEL AND DIANA OXNER

Mind-Building MARCH 3, APRIL 7, MAY 5, JUNE 2 FROM 4 - 7 P.M. EMBASSY OF FINLAND 3301 MASSACHUSETTS AVE., NW (202) 298-5800 WWW.FINLANDABROAD.FI/WEB/USA/FRONTPAGE

ibraries may seem like a dusty relic from a time before the advent of Wikipedia and Google, but in Finland, libraries are still considered revolutionary, serving as communal hubs of learning and egalitarianism.

Finland’s 864 public libraries are “open for everyone, free for everyone, belonging to everyone and used for everyone’s bene t,” according to Anni Vartola, curator of “Mind-Building,” an exhibition on Finnish libraries and library architecture now on display at the Embassy of Finland.

 e Finns’ deep love of libraries and literacy is re-  ected in the fact that the Nordic nation’s 5.5 million people borrow nearly 68 million books a year.

Libraries represent the importance Finns place on democracy, education and architectural innovation. According to the exhibition, local librarians and architects of library buildings — referred to as “mind-builders” — help create a welcoming space for social inclusion, civic engagement, freedom of expression and intellectual creativity.

 e exhibition was originally produced in 2018 for Venice’s Biennale Architettura, whose theme was “freespace.”

Vartola said the term freespace “rests on an understanding that the architecture of public libraries synthesizes the representation of a social institution, the functional needs of library spaces and a publicly funded architectural gesture of considerable local signi cance.”

Architecture, in fact, has played a key role in the development of Finland’s libraries. Originally, Finnish libraries were designed to be architecturally inviting, upli ing spaces so that working-class people would “come in, read newspapers, study books, learn about the world and, thereby, enlighten themselves and thus become active, well-informed citizens,” Vartola, who is also an architecture expert, told Laura Houseley in a May 2018 CNN article. “ is basic principle still holds true.”

Today’s libraries are both visually striking and versatile — “a place for learning, doing and sharing,” according to the exhibition. So unless you’re in a silent section, there won’t be much shushing going around because libraries in Finland double as hubs of social activity, which is especially important in a country known for cold, dark weather.

Indeed, these creative spaces not only house books, they also o er cafes, meeting facilities, classes, children’s playgrounds, video game rooms, music studios and workshops where patrons can use everything from 3D printers to sewing machines (one library even has karaoke).

 is emphasis on community engagement is seen throughout “Mind-Building,” which takes visitors on a journey through time, beginning with the opening of the Rikhardinkatu Library in Helsinki in 1881 and ending with the 2018 grand opening of the Oodi Helsinki Central Library. Along the way, we see both the distinct characteristics of each library on display and the commonalities they share.

For example, the Metso library, built in 1986 in the city of Tampere, stands as a testament to Finnish architecture, particularly its emphasis on minimalism, openness and sustainability.  e library’s brightly lit, sleek curved lines resemble the shell of a snail, while the color of the interior textiles is based on wild  owers and bird plumage, evoking the Finns’ love of nature and their pioneering use of clean, contemporary design.

While each of the libraries has its own appeal, Oodi is in a league of its own as an example of what the future of libraries could look like.

Finland’s newest state-of-the-art library, built in the heart of Helsinki, is displayed with the words “Your Next Living Room,” an apt description for this multipurpose refuge where you can enjoy lunch, hang out with friends, see a movie, host events, embroider curtains or escape in the world of virtual reality.

According to ALA Architects, which built Oodi, the library reaches “beyond the character of an ordinary library” and embodies “a new concept of an indoor public space full L ibraries may seem like a dusty relic from a time before the advent of Wikipedia and Google, but in Finland, libraries are still considered revolutionary, serving as communal hubs of Finland’s 864 public libraries are “open for everyone, free for everyone, belonging to everyone and used for everyone’s bene t,” according to Anni Vartola, curator of “Mind-Building,” an exhibition on Finnish libraries and library architecture now on display at the Embassy  e Finns’ deep love of libraries and literacy is re-  ected in the fact that the Nordic nation’s 5.5 million

Visitors to the Embassy of Finland can learn about the evolution of the country’s libraries over the last 100 years, including its state-of-theart Oodi library in Helsinki, seen below, which offers cafes, meeting facilities, workshops, children’s playgrounds, video game rooms, music studios and an artistic spiral staircase called “Omistuskirjoitus (Dedication).”

PHOTOS: EMBASSY OF FINLAND

of opportunities. As such, it is a bold and concrete token of the fundamental values of the Finnish culture and society.”

 ose values include diversity and equality, as seen in the library’s spiral staircase titled “Omistuskirjoitus (Dedication),” which is punctuated with words such as “strangers,” “beggars,” “the lonely,” “urbanites,” “populists,” “skeptics,” “genderqueers,” “grandfathers,” “minorities,” “wizards,” “bureaucrats,” “bellyachers” and dozens of other colorful descriptions — even “the illiterate” — so that anyone and everyone knows they have a place in the library.

 e 2018 opening of the Oodi Library was part of the celebration marking the centennial of Finland’s independence. A er Finland declared its independence in 1917 following the abdication of Russia’s last czar, the  edging state descended into a brief civil war that killed nearly 40,000 followed by a long stretch of economic destitution and division. But the government invested heavily into areas such as education — including libraries — and Finland rapidly developed into one of the world’s most prosperous states, consistently ranking at the top of indicators for quality of life and, not surprisingly, education.

Today, Finland boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Its emphasis on the value of education is a driving force behind providing university access at minimal costs and also free public libraries. For Finns, the power of education and literacy makes their yearly 58 euro contribution to public libraries a worthwhile investment.

Finns also feel personally connected to their libraries because architects ask locals what they want or need out of their libraries, incorporating these ideas into their plans (hence, the karaoke).

 is appreciation is seen at the Finnish Embassy in a section that displays postcards from libraries in towns with populations as small as 1,000 and as big as several hundred thousand.

Vartola told us that “this collection of postcards tells about the a ection between the library building and the local community that uses it and sees it as an integral part of their environmental identity. PHOTO: KUVATOIMISTO KUVIO OY W D

Jumping to another hotspot, in 2004 Solnes was recruited to be the public information ocer and spokesperson for the Nordic- and Norwegian-led peace-monitoring mission in Sri Lanka known as SLMM, which oversaw the ceasere between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. He later became chief of sta and deputy chief of the mission of the mission in this war-torn but still resplendent island in the Indian Ocean that was still recovering from 25 years of civil war.

“My family knew where I was working. I was never apart from my family for an extended time,” Solnes told us. “ese assignments usually lasted only six months to a year.”

He then worked with Össur, one of the world’s leading producers of prosthetics. As humanitarian aid manager and spokesperson, Solnes helped to arrange 300 prosthetics for seriously wounded soldiers and civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later, he orchestrated the tting of hundreds of amputees, mostly land mine victims in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Back in Brussels — where his wife was deputy secretary-general of the European Free Trade Association and, later, director of international trade negotiations in the Directorate for Trade and Economic Aairs — he once again became a spokesperson and also permanent delegate for the Confederation of Icelandic Employ ers at BUSINESSEUROPE, Europe’s main organization for business and industry.

When Ellertsdóttir became head of the Icelandic Mission to the European Union in 2014, Solnes became a senior advisor on media analysis to SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe) and SACEUR (NATO’S Supreme Allied Commander Europe).

From 2018 to 2019, Ellertsdóttir served as Iceland’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and this past September, she and the family moved to Washington, D.C., for her current posting. ey now live in Iceland’s Kalorama residence, where they are almost backyard neighbors with the Obamas and within eyeshot of Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and their young children.

Solnes has now created his own

rm as a strategic consultant in  - nance, media and foreign policy. He analyzes socio-economic issues, particularly in relation to EU regulations and the Icelandic economy, boiling them down to concise and understandable papers. He also helps managers write policy op-eds and connects clients to governments and other institutions.

As if that weren’t enough, he has written two books, the most recent being “A Powderkeg in Paradise: Lost Opportunity for Peace in Sri Lanka.” His life began in Copenhagen, even though his parents were both Icelanders. At 8 years old, Solnes was chosen for the highly revered Copen hagen Boys Choir.

“ey choose 50 boys from the greater Copenhagen area. It was a singing school, but you had regular classes, too. I was proud to be in the choir, but it was a burden,” he recalled. “I had to get up at 6 [a.m.], wake up alone and I le before the others woke up. I inhaled tea, toast and some cheese. en I had to hurry to the bus, #N10 or N#16, change and get on the train for a couple of stops. I had to be there at 8 a.m.”

Despite the demanding schedule, he stayed in the choir for ve years. At 13, his parents moved back to Iceland because his father, a civil en gineer, was oered a full professorship at the University of Iceland. “I was ripped away from all my friends; it was very dicult,” Solnes admits. Ellertsdóttir and Solnes knew of each other in an Icelandic junior college but it was not until they were graduate students in West Berlin at Freie Universität that they really began to notice each other.

“It was at an Icelandic party. I At left, Jon Oskar Solnes and his wife, Icelandic Ambassador Bergdís Ellertsdóttir, stand in front of a church called Víðimýrarkirkja that was built in 1834 and is one of the few remaining turf churches in Iceland. Above, their children — Salvör, 16, and Hjalti, 4, on the left, and Katia, 14, and Sturia, 6 — are seen skiing in Tirol, Austria.

looked across the room and there she was,” he said. “We were married in 1995, the longest day of the year, which is the perfect day to celebrate in Iceland.”

Looking back, Solnes said he realizes how dicult it sometimes was to move from one part of his life to another, but appreciates how each job or new career eld led to another fascinating opportunity.

“In a strange and neither planned nor anticipated way, the major steps in my professional life have been tak en in a sequence [that was] oen surprising, but also with regard to my family: First, TV sports as a young man thriving in that entertainment sector. Later, foreign news in TV fol lowed by news reporting from the Middle East and former Yugoslavia. Banking when everybody thought nothing could go wrong. Later, rep resenting the European Union in Bosnia and the Nordics in Sri Lanka. Back to good old Bosnia on a huge prosthetics project followed by yet another tour in Sri Lanka, now as chief of sta. Who would have con nected these points in advance? Not me surely,” he said.

“You have to dierentiate between the two worlds: a warzone and be ing safe at home with your family. It’s complicated,” he added. “You have to be patient, get used to it. It’s a shock to the system to come from a danger ous yet exciting environment where you hope you’re making a dierence in comparison to being Mr. Mom, where you’re hoping to make an even bigger dierence.” W D

Gail Scott is a contributing writer for e Washington Diplomat.

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