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Delayed Oslo Public Library gets March 2020 opening date

The Local Norway
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Delayed Oslo Public Library gets March 2020 opening date
A preview of the new Deichman Library in Bjørvika. Photo: Jo Straube, Deichman

The opening date for the new main library in Oslo has been announced

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The new library in the Bjørvika neighbourhood will open on March 28, news wire NTB reports.

Two million visitors are expected annually when the 19,600-square-foot building opens at the end of a building process that has lasted over ten years.

Officially named Deichman Library, Oslo Public Library is the municipal public library serving the city and is one of Norway’s oldest libraries.

The new premises have been listed on the Norwegian public libraries’ website as Deichman Bjørvika.

The Deichman institution runs 23 libraries around Oslo.

The old Oslo Public Library, which has been at Hammersborg since 1933, will be closed and its books moved to the new site at Bjørvika in time for opening.

The facilities were initially scheduled for opening in 2016, but major water leaks during construction delayed the process.

That has also resulted in construction costs increasing by half a billion kroner. The new library has cost a total of 2.5 billion kroner.

“We have been waiting a long time for this. We have wanted new premises for 30 years and this building has been planned for 10 years,” Oslo Public Library Director Knut Skansen told media including NRK on Thursday.

“This will be something completely different from a traditional library. We are particularly focusing on the digital,” Skansen added.

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