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A celebration of Danish libraries
Libraries matter in all sorts of ways.
Within their walls they keep history alive, help people learn new skills, bring communities together and provide welcoming spaces where anyone can sit, read and explore ideas without having to pay a cent.
Still, their future isn't guaranteed. With cuts to budgets, pressure on collections, book bans and the increasing challenges being faced by staff, libraries need your support now more than ever before. One of the simplest ways to show your support is to keep on visiting and using them.
Visit Danish libraries
The Council Library has always encouraged people to explore libraries wherever they go, and Danish libraries are no exception.
Did you know that Denmark has a long-standing reputation for great libraries? With the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU underway, now feels like a good moment to highlight just a few of them.
What we're showing here is just a small sample of what's on offer. There are plenty more libraries right across the country which are well worth a visit too.
Dokk1, Aarhus
Now and then, you come across a library that's so well designed it seems to capture the spirit of its location and its people, channelling their energy into something so dynamic and forward-looking that it lifts the area as a whole and creates a sense that anything is possible.
Dokk1 in Aarhus does all this and more.
Housed on the shores of the Aarhus River, it serves as a gateway between the city and the water. Its design is impressive: it has no fixed “front” or “back” and boasts floor-to-ceiling glass walls offering a 360° panoramic view of the surroundings. Its angular form gives the impression of movement, like a top that could be spun around like a child's toy.
The library was used as the focal point for the redevelopment of the city's waterfront. It leans into the idea of a library as a 'third space' to which people can go after work or from home, and which is central to the community. The services it offers reflects this.
Inside, there's a bit of everything. There is a citizens' service centre, a light rail station, spaces for events (from big gatherings to smaller cultural performances), quiet study corners, areas to hang out in, thousands of books and magazines, digital resources, creative labs and family spaces.
There's even a whole area dedicated to raising awareness about what it's like to live with a disability, and the support that is available. Every library should have one of these!
One of the library's most endearing features is 'The Gong' – a three-tonne tubular bronze bell installation connected to an interface at Aarhus University Hospital, 16 km away. Whenever a new baby is born in the hospital, its parents are invited to celebrate by activating the bell, which then rings in the library. Apparently, it rings around 16 times a day.
On the large deck surrounding the building is a playground designed to bring the library's lessons to life. Here you'll find an American eagle to crawl and balance on, a volcano with climbing nets and a giant 7.5-meter-tall bear holding a hollow trunk for the kids to slide down on. The designs are so stunning that parents will be hard-pressed to drag their kids away from them. Although, with the harbour views and excellent coffee on sale inside, it might just be the opposite way round!
After opening, Dokk1 quickly became an internationally lauded and multi-award-winning library, and it's easy to see why. In 2016 it was awarded the 'Public Library of the Year' award by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). In 2017 it won a gold award in the Urban Design category in the International Design Awards (IDA).
Put simply, Dokk1 is an elite library.
Hjørring Bibliotek
Imagine a library with a bright red ribbon running through it, cutting through walls, floors and shelves. A ribbon that bends and snakes, shifting into different forms, like a desk or a table.
A library with a bubble wall with little caves for kids to read in. Bookshelves with slides hidden in them, a reading tree, a 'fishpond' containing books, and at the top of a staircase, a giant mouth that recites poetry.
No, you're not in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory – you are in fact imagining a library in the north of Denmark, the wonderful library of Hjørring. A trip to this library is an adventure in itself!
Located on the second floor of a shopping centre, the Hjørring library is a true conduit for the imagination!
It was created with playfulness at its core. With its inviting design, it creates natural spaces for everyone – from young children to adults – to engage and participate. The layout flows smoothly between the different sections, making it easy for visitors of all ages to feel at home.
If you're exhausted from climbing up the giant poetry-reading staircase, you can crawl into a Chesterfield armchair and enjoy a well-earned read!
It's bright, it's warm and it's very welcoming.
Copenhagen University Library
This is a public service announcement for book lovers, history nerds, art geeks, architecture enthusiasts and all rational human beings. You will love this library!
Founded in 1482, Copenhagen University Library is Denmark's oldest library. It has literally lived through wars, fires and generations of stressed-out students.
It has existed in its current location on Fiolstræde since 1861. Fun fact: it was the first building in Danish history to be commissioned through an architectural competition.
Visually, this red-brick neo-Gothic building is one of the city's architectural landmarks.
Once inside, visitors will marvel at its towering bookcases and walls adorned with frescoes by Georg Hilker. It has the look and feel of Dublin's famed Long Room library in Trinity College, and is jaw‑droppingly beautiful.
Until the 1930s, the building and its adjoining storage facility accommodated around 300 000 books. However, over time the collection outgrew the space, and the building became too small to house the library's vast collections. Parts of it were gradually moved to other sites in the city.
In 2009, the building closed for renovation, and the library ceased its lending operations. After a careful restoration, it reopened in 2023 as a lively cultural hub. Today, visitors can explore the stunning reading hall, enjoy curated exhibitions and take guided tours that bring its long and colourful history to life.
One Instagram comment I read asked: 'Is this the prettiest, most underrated library in Europe?'. Well, why not come and see for yourself?
KulturØen, Middelfart
In the waters between Jutland and Funen, where the waves crash down and batter the shoreline, sits a library on an artificial island connected to the city by small bridges. A library that is the cultural heartbeat of the community it serves – KulturØen.
As you can imagine from the name – KulturØen (Culture Island) – culture plays a central role there. It groups together many of the town's key cultural services and houses them under one roof. So locals can easily have a coffee in the nice café, borrow books from the library, check out a movie in the cinema, and afterwards go for dinner in the panoramic sea-view restaurant.
Unfortunately, you're not allowed to sleep there.
Alongside these facilities, KulturØen is home to the town's assembly hall and tourist information centre.
A place that brings people together, catering for every age, taste and interest. For Middelfart's residents and visitors alike, it's a vital part of the community.
The library is the real standout feature. As you can imagine, being right on the water, it embraces a maritime theme, with nods to ships and sea life throughout. There's even a bookcase with built-in aquariums and colourful fish swimming towards their favourite books.
The reading room is spacious and cosy. There are LEGO tables for kids (it is Denmark, after all), little nooks, quiet study areas and greenery throughout. The deck outside is particularly enticing during the summertime as a place in which to sit and reflect and watch the world go by.
Copenhagen's Royal Library: the Black Diamond
No list of Danish libraries would be complete without mentioning Copenhagen's Royal Library, and in particular, the Black Diamond.
Anchored on the harbourfront, the Black Diamond has an almost otherworldly presence. Its exterior is clad in black granite; each stone weighs 75 kg and exudes a sense of mystery. Its sleek look is akin to something from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'.
It is shaped in the form of a sculptural monolith split into two pieces, connected by a large glass atrium. The combination of polished black granite, steel and gleaming glass reflects the sunlight, and when light shimmers off the water and bounces back on to the building it can give the appearance of a black diamond. Is this true? Does it matter? Anyone who walks by can't help but be mesmerised by it.
The interior is equally impressive. The 24-meter-high atrium allows ample light to filter through, and there is a panoramic view over the harbour. At 13.00 daily the Diamond's central atrium plays Sky Mechanics, a sound art piece by Wayne Siegel. Generated in real-time by a computer program, the piece lasts just three to four minutes and evolves with the lunar cycle. In other words, it is constantly changing.
As the cultural heart of the Royal Danish Library, the Black Diamond was designed to complement the original 1906 building, and it provides easy access to the rest of the library’s extensive collection.
Inside, you’ll find around 200 000 books and six reading rooms. But it is much more than just a library. It serves as a cultural centre for the city, housing a café, bookshop, exhibition room, restaurant and scientific and literary institutions, as well as a roof terrace and a 600-seat hall for concerts, theatrical performances and conferences. It hosts around 80 events a year.
Smooth, sharp-edged and shimmering, the Black Diamond is not just somewhere you could visit whenever you're in Copenhagen – it’s somewhere you should!
This post does not necessarily represent the positions, policies, or opinions of the Council of the European Union or the European Council.
The Council Library reading room is open on Monday to Friday from 12.30 to 15.30. The Info Desk operates during office hours from Monday to Friday.
It is open to all staff of the Council of the European Union and the European Council, trainees, permanent representations of member states, staff of other EU institutions and bodies, and to researchers and students upon request. Access to some library holdings may be restricted to on-site consultation.
Visit the Council Library
You don’t have to travel all the way to Denmark to experience great libraries.
There is a library in Belgium that houses a unique collection on the Council and the European Council, that is of interest to researchers of European studies from around the world – the Council Library!
If you are a researcher or university student, you are welcome to visit our reading room for on-site consultation. You can also request Council Library materials on an interlibrary loan via your university library.
Please fill in the form at least one week in advance of your intended visit.