Libraries, the best kept Swedish secret - Newbie

I have confessed here before how much I like libraries and how I dreamed of living in a place with cosy, functional and good libraries. My dream came true. Swedish libraries are fantastic and the possibilities they offer go way beyond borrowing books. 

While I was writing the article for the Newbie, I saw in the news section of my library that they had recently got a cat that we all could go and pat. At first I became super happy, because I love cats but can't have any. Then I started questioning the idea, as the cat could get lost in that huge library full of hiding places. Later on, I saw that it was an April fool's joke... I will have to find some other cat to pat.

Apart from that, there's a lot to do in Swedish libraries, as you can read in the article I wrote to the Newbie Guide to Sweden.

Gothenburg's library

Libraries, making me happy since 198someting

It was Saturday and the plan was to study the whole day for my Swedish exam next week. Not a very exciting plan, but it all got better when I decided to go to the library. I found out a while ago that one can also borrow magazines, and I have been loaning the Swedish version of Runner's World, both to practise Swedish and because I like running.

When I got there I saw they were having a book sale, probably as a way to get rid of those issues that didn't get loaned so much. Many of the books looked quite old but I decided to have a look anyway. And there they were... in the middle of the pile of books there were two huge cookbooks waiting for me. One was by Gordon Ramsay, my favourite chef, and the other one by Nigella Lawson. I bought both for 10 kr, which is like 1 euro. I couldn't believe how lucky I was! And that's how one improves by a lot a fairly regular Saturday. 

Yeah, my dream came true. I do live in a city where libraries make me happy.

You got to love Sweden #11 - Library

I love reading and I read a little bit of everything. It's rare the night I fall asleep without reading at least a few pages just before I turn off the bedside table light. A habit I got since I was a child. Sometimes my eyes are so sleep I only manage to read 2 pages, and sometimes I can read half a book. When I was 13, I went to Portimão, in the south of Portugal, with my sports team and we visited the city library, then newly refurbished. I fell in love with it. It had comfortable sofas and chairs where one could read magazines and newspapers, secret reading corners, areas to watch movies or listen to CDs, and an infinite (for me) book collection. Since then I have dreamed of living in a city with a great library like that. Here, I have been going to the local library, which is somehow comparable in size and features to that library I visited when I was 13. There is also a nice collection of books in English, which is good, as my Swedish is only allows me to read children's book yet (which, by the way, I have been doing). I was already happy with this library until I needed a grammar book that I could only find in the city library of Gothenburg. I went there yesterday, and I did fall in love with it. It was the exact same feeling I had when I was 13. Except this time I can actually use this library and it is ten times better and bigger than the other one. 

Adoro ler e leio de tudo um pouco. É rara a noite que adormeço sem antes ler umas páginas antes de apagar a luz. Um hábito que ganhei quando ainda era criança. Às vezes os meus olhos estão tão pesados de sono que só consigo ler 2 páginas, outras vez leio metade de um livro. Quando tinha 13 anos fui a Portimão, no sul de Portugal, com a minha equipa da altura e lá visitamos a biblioteca da cidade, na altura renovada há pouco tempo. Apoixeinei-me pela biblioteca. Tinha sofás e cadeirões confortáveis, recantos de leitura, uma área para ver filmes ou ouvir CDs, e uma colecção infinita (para mim) de livros. Desde essa altura que sonho morar numa cidade com uma biblioteca assim. Aqui tenho ido a minha biblioteca local, que de certa forma é semelhante a essa biblioteca em termos de espaço e servicios. Além disso tem uma boa colecção razoável de livros em Inglês, o que é bastante conveniente sendo que o meu sueco ainda só dá para ler livros de crianças (o que tenho feito). Já estava contente por ter esta biblioteca, mas precisei de um livro de grmática e descobri que só existia na biblioteca da cidade de Gotemburgo. Fui lá ontem. Apaixonei-me novamente por uma biblioteca, tal e qual como quando tinha 13 anos. Mas desta vez posso de facto usar a biblioteca, que é dez vezes melhor e maior que a outra.

The Gothenburg library is spread all over 3 floors and it's gorgeous, modern and cosy.

A biblioteca de Gotemburgo tem 3 andares e é linda, moderna e agradável. 

It's cosy, it has reading corners, computers, a cafe and on top of that a beautiful architecture. The book collection is huge! There's books in Swedish, several shelves of books in English and books in many many different languages. I found a whole shelf of books in Portuguese, including many titles I have been wanting to read for a while but I had not had the chance yet. There's a whole section focused on the learning of languages, where I found (too) many books of exercises for practicing Swedish, for all levels and for different second languages (I learn from English, but there's a lot of people learning from Arabic, Chinese, German, etc.). I literally got lost there.

É agradável, tem cantos para leitura, computadores, um café e ainda por cima uma arquitectura bonita. A colecção de livros é gigantesca! Há muitos em Sueco, claro, mas também tem muitas prateleiras com livros em Inglês e muitos outros em várias linguas. Por exemplo, encontrei uma prateleira inteira com livros em Português, incluindo livros que quero ler mas ainda não tive oportunidade. Há uma secção inteira dedicada à aprendizagem de linguas, onde encontrei (demasiados) livros de exercisios para Sueco, de vários níveis e várias linguas secundárias (eu aprendo de inglês, mas muitos aprendem de Árabe, Chinês, Alemão, etc.). Perdi-me na biblioteca.

Of course, I am now a member and I plan to go there many times. I am finally living in a city with a great library!

Claro que me tornei membro da biblioteca e espero ir lá muitas vezes. Estou finalmente a morar numa cidade com uma biblioteca fantástica!