The National Library of Estonia (Rahvusraamatukogu), long closed for refurbishment work, is now partly open – but its reading rooms will only open next year.
Renovation work to the library on Tõnismägi in central Tallinn started in 2021, and in any case was originally not due for completion until May 2027, at a cost of over €100 million.
By the time construction of the distinctive late Soviet-era building ended, in 1993, Estonia had become an independent country; much of the Soviet-era work was found to be shoddy and in need of improvement, while the building is one of several identified objects of national cultural value.
The National Library has been open for events for several months, but by the latest estimates the reading hall will not be accessible before its reopening on May 29 next year, mainly due to issues with installing new fixtures and fittings.
“It was a major effort first to secure the necessary funding for the reconstruction, meaning the structural completion of the building itself, and then the next step was furnishing it. A reconstructed building without interior fittings cannot provide services to the public,” Martin Öövel, the library’s director general, told “Aktuaalne kaamera.”
The slow progress of the late stages of the refurbishment has been put down to a government decision to allocate the required €16 million for furnishings over two years.
“The large reading halls of this building will open when the building as a whole is completed. We have several processes happening simultaneously here — the first was moving Estonia’s cultural heritage back in, and after that, the furnishings will continue to arrive in stages through procurements,” Öövel went on.
Meanwhile, over half of the library’s collection has been returned from storage, but this is taking time too.
“The pace of the move cannot be very fast, because it takes some time to follow the order and keep everything organized. For us, it’s quite optimal at the moment. I calculated earlier that the move would take eight to ten months. That’s exactly how it’s going now,” said Kaire Lass, chief librarian.
At present, books are being placed on shelves in storage room number 14, one of 22 such facilities, which must accommodate 3.4 million items. The National Library’s own staff have been working in shifts, with two staff on at a time.
This work is scheduled to finish in September, after which specialists will begin follow-up checks to ensure that every valuable book has been placed in the correct location.
All of this has meant that during the years of moving and renovation, i.e. half a decade now, only a fraction of the National Library’s valuable collection of about 150,000 books has been accessible to readers, while some youngsters may not even remember the library when it was functioning normally.
“In fact, we’ve now raised a whole generation of young people who don’t even know what it means to go to the National Library to read and write papers, so I think it’s very important that the library can reopen as quickly as possible,” University of Tartu Professor Eneken Laanes said.
As well as the books themselves, the ambience of the place has been longed for, local historian Josef Kats said. “Most materials can be accessed via the academic library, but the National Library, with its readership and cafés, is a very charming and unique place,” he noted.
As to whether it would be possible to open the closed collections to the public earlier, even partly, Öövel would not be drawn into making any promises.
“In the process of moving everything back, I believe our team has already managed to exceed expectations quite a lot, so we are constantly striving to ensure that the opening will be worthy of the occasion,” he explained.
The library was reportedly nearing completion a year ago.
The bulk of the €106 million refurbishment funding, up from original estimates not much more than half that, came mostly from the National Cultural Endowment fund (Kultuurikapital)
—
Source:
‘Aktuaalne kaamera,’ reporter Merike Teder.
