Erik Gunnar Asplund’s Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library, which opened on March 31, 1928, was in many ways an innovation in the Nordic countries. Most striking was the fact that lenders could now take books off the shelves themselves, but the central placement of the lending
room and the secondary placement of the reading rooms also indicated a new way to do libraries. The thoughts embodied in the building became a model for many later libraries. The building is not only testimony to an important period of Nordic architectural history and a recognized masterpiece by the Swedish architect Erik Gunnar Asplund (1885–1940), it is also part of the history of the Nordic social model that was taking shape in the interwar years. By its function as a public institution
and its unique architectural qualities, Stockholm Public Library today stands
as an important work of Nordic welfare building.