Noora Oluikpe
Lahden AKE

Nordic Libraries Annual (NLA) is an annual conference addressing important topics in public libraries and library development. NLA 2025 was organized in Helsinki Central Library Oodi on October 29th — 30th. The first day included library visits to Oodi, The National Library of Finland, Espoo Lippulaiva Library and Helsinki Vuosaari Library. The presentations were held on the next day in Maijansali at Oodi, and it was broadcast on Library Channel.

The theme of the 2025 conference was “Libraries Working Against Polarization”. Polarization was examined from various perspectives in presentations of Nordic libraries from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Library Economics graduate Jessica K. Strandqvist visited the conference in Helsinki. She sends her greetings to us from Malmö.

My experience: Nordic Libraries Annual in Helsinki for the first time

I found out about NLA this year through the Swedish Library Association’s magazine few months before the conference. I found myself instantly interested by the idea of being in such an event. Librarians from libraries throughout the Nordic Countries would be in one place sharing their experiences and discuss the issues and solutions. I was interested in the reality of libraries nowadays and how do they improve their environment for everyone.

The event was truly meaningful for me. I get to meet so many librarians and see the progress of libraries in neighboring countries. I was highly interested in their initiatives and further studies about the poor literacy skills within society and the issues related to it. The conference brought us together to think furthermore into solutions.

I enjoyed the visits to all kinds of libraries in Helsinki and Espoo. Seeing firsthand the different types of libraries, brought me a new question of how Sweden could as well develop their libraries to be more open to a wider range of visitors and users. It would be important to get all the needed resources and more meaningful support from the government to make it possible. In Helsinki I could experience the library of the past as The National Library of Finland and the future face of a library as Helsinki Central Library Oodi and Vuosaari Library.

The NLA conference shows how undoubtedly clear the importance of libraries is to society. The librarians’ work is so much needed for every visitor, especially those who have difficulties reaching out to a library for countless reasons. Due to all these reasons, I would love to come back to Helsinki and participate in the NLA conference again.

Text and photos:
Jessica K. Strandqvist and Noora Oluikpe