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Now you can get a massage, play FIFA and go Zen at the State and University Library

The State and University Library, which is incidentally now called the Royal Library – Aarhus University, has opened its doors to an 800 m2 study environment with room for activities such as massage, table tennis and mindfulness.

[Translate to English:] Bøger har også værdi i den digitale tidsalder, hvilket blandt andet er manifesteret med en "Wall of Material" der indeholder et udvalg af bøger fra magasinerne. Tanken er, at bogvæggen skal strække sig fra kælderen til anden etage. Men foreløbig findes den i det nye store rum i underetagen og i den store læsesal i stueetagen. Fotos: Lars Kruse.
[Translate to English:] Selvom der kommer mange forskellige mennesker på Statsbiblioteket, der i dag hedder Det Kgl. Bibliotek - Aarhus, er studerende ved AU den primære målgruppe. To af de studerende, Stine Lykke Holst og Karolina Thomsen, der begge læser oplevelsesøkonomi på 4. semester, har allerede fundet sig godt til rette i de nye faciliteter i kælderetagen, som de betegner som "meganice".
[Translate to English:] Studerende har blandt andet via en workshop været med til at definere indretningen af det nye studiemiljø, fortæller vicedirektør Erik Hofmeister. "Mere af det samme," "flere fritidsaktiviteter" og "flere studiepladser" var nogle af budskaberne fra de studerende. Flere studiepladser er det ikke blevet til, da det ifølge Hofmeister vil være for svært at indrette lokalet i underetagen med de rette lysforhold.
[Translate to English:] Skulle det ske, at en bogorm blive brødflov er der mulighed for at varme mad i det køkken, der er indrettet i underetagen, hvor der også findes bad og flere toiletter (det sidste var et stort ønske fra de studerende).
[Translate to English:] Også i stueetagen er der sket noget, blandt andet er der indrettet en kaffestue, hvor kaffen godt nok er tre kroner dyrere end i den kantine, hvor Monica Ejsing, der læser sygeplejevidenskab på kandidaten, plejer at komme. "Men den er også meget bedre," lyder bedømmelsen. Alle, der har lyst til at se det nye studiemiljø på Det Kgl. Bibliotek - Aarhus er velkommen til at dukke op til reception kl. 13.00, hvor der vil blive serveret miniburgers og senere er det muligt at stimle sammen om et kagebord.

Deputy Director Erik Hofmeister from The Royal Library – Aarhus has difficulty hiding his pride as he shows us around the 800 m2 newly renovated basement facilities at the State and University Library, now called the Royal Library – Aarhus following a merger with the Royal Library at the turn of the year. 

"The staircase is also new," says Hofmeister as he points at the staircase which we have just walked down to get to the basement. It is indeed new, but it only dawns on you now that there had not previously been a staircase near the reception desk. Neither does the staircase stick out from the rest of the interior, as it is built with the same curved rails and narrow tiles that characterise the area around the entrance and the large reading room. 

Journals out, students in

On the other hand, you cannot miss the thorough renovation that has taken place in the basement, which previously housed shelve after shelve of journals in addition to servers. The latter have been moved to the Book Tower, and the large number of journals are gathering dust elsewhere to make room for the library's version of a modern study environment, which has been created in close collaboration with the architect company Arkitema Architects. It is not difficult to understand the deputy director's pride in the finished result. No expensive has been spared on both the quality of the interior and the level of creativity when it comes to the students' opportunities for physical activity during breaks from their studies. 

Solid quality

Broad, oiled oak planks are laid in a herringbone pattern across the floor surface in the larger rooms, which are also furnished with large, round tables where several students can sit together with their own computer without constantly elbowing one another. There are also sofas with thick, round cushions in smooth leather. The ‘wall’ of the rondelle consists of heavy, worsted material in rose, beige and dark-blue, and the idea here is that students can either relax in a massage chair, meditate or play computer games. Behind an organically shaped glass wall there is also a table tennis table for students who relax best by being physically active.

Ensures ownership among the students

The decision to go in for solid quality in the choice of materials and workmanship is entirely deliberate, even though the rooms in the basement will be used by many thousand people.

"We realise that it won’t continue to look like this," says Hofmeister while running his hand over one of the loose, light leather cushions on one of the sofas. 

"But we have chosen to focus on quality, because we believe that it will help to give the students a feeling of ownership of things, so that they will therefore look after them and help to ensure a high level of order here," continues Hofmeister.

The basement renovation has cost approx. DKK six million.

"We will come to feel it a bit in our operating budget, but as this is a renovation of our buildings, we will be able to write some of it off over many years," says Hofmeister.

The article was published 2017.02.22.