On a Future Library

Scandinavians are deliberate.

They tend to see themselves as part and parcel of what was, is, and will be, in a view that examines life on a continuum. Taking the best from the past and with an eye towards the future, they seem to always be making plans that have an impact on the present world and also on the generations to come. So, it’s not surprising that its the Norwegians who are planning on a library for the future. Here’s the idea.

Beginning in 2014, a public trust organization, in collaboration with the city of Oslo, Norway’s capital city, started collecting the a book of the year as chosen by a select committee. The project is almost as much art project as it is library. But the organization wishes to preserve modern literature for the future. They will collect a book a year for the next 100 years.

The Future Library Project, or Framtidsbiblioteket in Norwegian, has several disparate parts happening at the same time to bring this library to fruition. It will actually be a large room built inside a new library that was recently constructed in Oslo. A large swath of Norwegian forest was harvested for the wood used to build this special room that will house the future library. That choice of medium for the room is intentional, of course, because, after all, books are made out of paper that comes from wood.

Oh, and the books chosen? They are unpublished as of now. The authors submitted manuscripts to the organization, but the public hasn’t seen them yet. Some of the writers whose works will be a part of the future library include Han Kang, Margaret Atwood, and Karl Ove Knausgård. We know the names of the books, of course, but not the content. At least, not yet. And, since 2014, we have only 9 books of the eventual 100. When each chosen author presents the book to the organization, they meet in the place where the Norwegian forest where the trees were harvested to build the library room to partake in the handing over ceremony. This ceremony will be done only 91 other times.

Are you starting to see how all this is interconnected, how the collective community is being incorporated to produce this library for tomorrow? Everything has been thought out, everything has been planned–for the now and for the future. And, speaking of the future, let’s jump 91 years from now, to 2114, when the library is finally ready. Let’s listen in on a description of the library given by a docent to a group of visitors in the year 2114.

“There are now 100 books available to be read in this library, 100 books stretching back to the 21st Century. They have never been read by the public. In fact, they have only recently been printed. However, you can purchase copies of these books if you wish. In fact, people were buying these books back in 2014 before they were available. Again, with an eye towards the future, people back then bought the books for their grand children and great grandchildren to read in this, the future. And the pages of the books are made of special paper. The room you’re in was made 100 years ago of trees felled for this reason. In their place in the forest, new trees were planted that are now 100 years old. Those trees, those trees planted back in 2014, they are the ones now being harvested to use as paper for the 100 books you see before you.”

I told you Scandinavians are deliberate.