Kokkola City Library-Regional Library

Kokkola City Library provides a fundamental civic service available to everyone in close and daily cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Library, Info-Point Europe and Luckan, the information center for the Swedish-speaking minority.

Authority and authority type

The City of Kokkola

Title of library in local language

Kokkolan kaupunginkirjasto-maakuntakirjasto

Year of completion

1999

Address

Isokatu 3, 67100 KOKKOLA

Size of library:

5643m²

Category of library

Public Library

Architectural idea or principle

Curved shapes, light colours, and airy spaces separated by glass walls are characteristic of the architecture, and a large window wall opens to the terrace. A central market place helps customers orientate themselves and creates an open area through which the library can breath. Moving from one department to the next is easy, because there are partition walls only where peace and quiet is needed. The physical space is clearly seen as an important counterbalance to the virtual world of digital culture.

Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences and the Municipal Federation of education in Central Ostrobothnia participated in the library building process and the library of the University of Applied Sciences is now located in the building as a final result of this process. A new library philosophy is manifested in the side by side working of two library units – with joint premises and two collections.