2025

Study trip of National Library of Estonia leaders to Danish libraries

The aims and objectives of the project

The extensively renovated National Library of Estonia opens in 2027 and aims to become an education hub and community centre that is open to everyone. At the same time RaRa is taking on an increasingly significant role as the competence centre for the Estonian library network. Under consideration is the possibility of providing services to universities in Tallinn. These transformations have been successfully handled by the Royal Danish Library, hence the desire to exchange ideas and learn from the experiences of Danish colleagues.

Dates of the visit

26-29 May 2025

Overview

The first day of the visit was spent at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. Director General of the Library Bente Skovgaard Kristensen gave an overview of the functioning of the library network and the Library’s strategy which offered valuable insight in terms of acting as a digital and data-driven organisation. The subsequent meetings with colleagues covered the following topics: greener and sustainable library, library services and partnerships – operating a shared library system and providing full university library services to universities, managing licensed e-resources at national level, Project CO2-emissions on e-resources.

The second day was spent in Aarhus, visiting the Aarhus University Libraries that operate in cooperation with the Royal Danish Library. The topics covered included: physical information supply and library services, the preparation and execution of the merge of State and University Library in Aarhus and the Royal Library in Copenhagen, four main services provided by Aarhus University Libraries (information supply, user services, research services and education), the organisation of and access to digital collections and cultural heritage, library service at The Book Tower and developing open library spaces that contribute to learning, cultural dissemination and well-being.

Both the Royal Danish Library and the Aarhus University Libraries also offered a guided library tour.

The outcomes of the project

From the perspective of RaRa, the study trip was very beneficial.
Participants received a lot of additional materials to explore further and made excellent contacts for the future. Mr. Öövel and Ms. Veimann are especially pleased with the contacts related to video game collection and archiving, as this is also a relevant topic at RaRa and one of the focus areas for RaRa next strategic period. There are not many such examples globally.

Quotes from participants

Martin Öövel, Director General, National Library of Estonia: It was truly inspirational to see the success story of providing full level services to various academic institutions in the form of having consolidated library service offering and making it available through the use of best practices. The importance of a proof of concept became very clear during the visit – with successfully launching the library service for the University of Copenhagen, a proof of concept was established, which then enabled them to approach other universities with their service offering. Instead of using the same approach for all, they have been flexible in finding tailor-made solution for every consolidated service offering.

Kristel Veimann, Director of Library Services, National Library of Estonia: The self-service library model was very inspiring – we received confirmation that it works well, and this is important for us both in the context of reopening the RaRa building and in the development of the Estonian library network. The information about cooperation with public libraries and the nationwide library system was also very valuable, as Estonia is currently moving toward a similar solution. Additionally, it was important for us to learn about collection curation and digital collections.