Snapshots of the Week

Please pay a visit to my galleries at Flickr to see all of the photos from my trip. Each week I will select 2 photos to feature here.

You are browing the archive for March, 2009...

Mar
22

Copenhagen Library Tour: Islands Brygge Bibliotek

Main Entrance

Next stop in the library tour: the public library branch on Islands Brygge! Islands Brygge is one of the boroughs of Copenhagen. It means “Iceland’s Wharf.” I will start another series of posts about all of Copenhagen’s boroughs later, and I’ll include more information about Islands Brygge at that time. But Islands Brygge is in the southern part of the city, on the island of Amager. It’s near the Humanities facility of Copenhagen University and has a nice road along the water. From my dormitory it’s a nice 15-minute walk away (and just one stop away on the Metro or Bus).

The Islands Brygge branch of the public library is much smaller than the main public library, but the interior design still has that modern, modular look typical of Danish design. Plus it sports some interesting furniture, such as a table that can bend in any direction. The only bad thing is that they close quite early on most days (4pm on some days and 5pm on others).  The main public library is open until 7 pm on week nights. Most libraries here do NOT open on Sundays. Here are some pictures:

This table can bend in any direction:

Bendy Table

View of the library

Library View

Comic series from a to å…

Teen series

Children’s section:

Children's Section

More pictures click here!

Mar
20

Quick hop to Roskilde

Main Entrance

Last Friday night I felt like getting on a train and going somewhere in the morning. So on Saturday after choir rehearsal I got on the S-Tog intending to go to Kobenhavns Hovedbangården (The Central Train Station) so that I could get a regional train ticket, but accidentally got on the train going in the wrong direction and ended up at Østerport Station. Totally not a problem, I just bought my ticket there. Decided to go to Roskilde, a suburb within the greater Copenhagen area. It is an ancient town. The ride only took about 25 minutes or so.

While there, I just strolled aimlessly down the pedestrian walking street near the train station. Checked out the shops. Bought a much-needed change purse on sale (for 50 Kr) and a nice purple purse. On the way home I stopped at a Kvickly to get some groceries but the store had a power-outage and could not check out anyone’s items. They were unable to get the power back on so I (along with many others) ended up giving my things back to a worker to put back on the shelves. Ah well. It sucked because they had what looked like some really nice Japanese stir-fry sauce that I wanted to try. I’ll see if I can’t find it elsewhere.

Next time I go to Roskilde I’ll try to check out some of the museums there and walk around inside some of the old cathedrals.

Mar
19

Copenhagen Library Tour: Hovedbiblioteket

Main Entrance

This post is first in a series that will explore the libraries in Copenhagen! There are 2 library systems that I will cover during this tour, the Public Library System and the Royal Danish Library System. I plan to visit as many branches around the city as possible during this tour.

Well, in Denmark, your yellow health insurance/CPR card also acts as a library card. (The CPR number is the Danish equivalent of Social Security). All you have to do is register your CPR number as a member of the library systems and there you have it! Imagine that, the library books that you check out are linked to your social security number! :-)

The first library I will write about is the main public library. The public library in Copenhagen has many branches throughout the city’s boroughs. The “flagship” library of the public library system is “Hovedbiblioteket”, which literally translates to “The Main Library.” It is located in the city center, not too far from Nørreport station.

Hovedbiblioteket is quite large and has multiple floors, accessible by escalators (and of course, stairs). The design is very open and welcoming. Plus, the stacks, tables and chairs all have a very light, modern and modular feel. It looks like a mall. There is also a cafe that sells drinks and light snacks near the main entrance.

To check out books, most people use the self-checkout system. You swipe your library card (e.g. your Social Security card) at a computer terminal and then follow the instructions on the touch-screen kiosk to complete the check-out process. If you can’t visit the library or any of its branches, you have have books delivered to you at home for free once a month (via the “The Library at your Doorstep” program).

I have visited Hovedbibliotek quite a few times to study!

View from above!

View from the Top

In the stacks…

Stacks

Color-coded lights for each floor

Main Entrance

More photos can be found here: Hovedbiblioteket