BORGARBÓKASAFNIÐ
"Libraries are one of the pillars of the society, like swimming pools, these two are higher in my priority list than grocery stores, over what I must have near my home." This is a very strong need I have, to be able to choose books in an easy way."
Says Anna Lyck Filbert, a resident of Kjalarnes and a regular visitor to the City Library located inside Klébergsskóli. Anna, who reads equally in Icelandic and Danish, says she loves all kinds of books, excluding poetry and biographies. She mostly reads crime stories and Nordic authors are her favourites, but she also mentions the Canadian author Louise Penny and Sue Grafton from the USA.
"Sue writes very detailed descriptions of the setting and characters, e.g. exactly what the main characters wears and what they eat, I feel it adds a lot to the stories, I think the characterization and the setting are very important. I also enjoy looking at new children's books and sometimes borrow books for the grandchildren at the Library, but I also look at the old ones, especially the books about Tin Tin."
Anna also uses the library to look through magazines, and handicraft and cook books.
"Some books are about food and traveling, I like those a lot."
Anna says she discovered audio books during the pandemic. "I was stubborn for a long time and refused to try them, but now I think it's great to be able to listen to books at the E - Library while I'm gardening, knitting or peeling potatoes. The advantage of that is that I'm also always sure to have books on hand, before it was a bit stressful to run the risk of being "out of books" if the library was e.g. closed."
However, she does not read books on the phone or on a reading board, she prefers to hold a printed copy and in her hands and turn the pages,
"And the cover is also important, it's always exciting when there are reviews about book covers of the books puplished before Christmas. The back cover also has to appeal to me, I don't read just everything."
Although the library in Kléberg is not very large, Anna usually finds couple of books that she wants to read every time she goes to the library, which is very regularly. So far, she has not had to use the Library's service to get books sent to Kléberg from another City Library other collections of the City Library, but she tells her husband to do it sometimes. He does that either with the help from the library's employee in Kléberg or on the library's website, which he says is very easy. Once a week, there is a delivery in Kléberg of books that have been ordered by inhabitands in the Kjalarnes.
Anna says she used the Library bus a lot when it was still on the roads, and every once in a while she goes to the library in Mosfellsbær, but she says it's a great quality of life to have a library with fixed opening hours in the neighborhood.
"Libraries are such a great place, you can drop in without necessarily having a special mission, sit down and browse books or magazines. And then there is an extra bonus to be around people even if you're not necessarily talking to them. Before, it was perhaps a more homogenous group that used the libraries, but now there are all kinds of people. The libraries are also perfect if you have to wait for e.g. children at sports practice. And it's free to visit! The world is always changing and now there is an even greater need for libraries than before."
Anna has always been a great reader. When she received some money as a child, she used to go to town and buy second hand books whe would read over and over again. When she moved to Denmark as a teenager, however, a new world opened up to her with large and real libraries that she had not encountered before in Iceland.
The joy of the newly discovered world of stories was great, so much that she remembers being quite frustrated when her mother put a limit on the number of books she could borrow from the library, 30 books. Since then, visits to libraries have been a big part of Anna‘s family life, and she and her husband made a big effort when their children were growing up to ensure that would learn to use and enjoy libraries, both at home in everyday life but also when traveling, since it‘s good to immerse there in peace and calmness.
"Libraries are a real treasure in general. There is something about it, to be in the midst of books. You don't know what the book holds, it's like a piece of chocolate, it can be delicious but some times it‘s not your taste and then it's good to be able to give it to someone else, people have different tastes. But it's not often that I give up on books."
Anna says in conclusion and encourages her neighbors in Kjalarnes to take advantage of the quality of life of having a library in the neighborhood. In the library Klébergi you can find books in Icelandic, English and Polish, but it is also no problem to get books sent there for children, young people and adults, in various other languages. You can also have board games, vinyl records and DVDs sent to Kléberg to borrow.
There are several ways to have the collection sent between libraries, on ,My Account, on the library's website, to call any of the eight libraries or to go to any of the libraries and have a staffmember to assit you.
Children under 18 get a free library card, while adults pay a low annual fee.
The interview was conducted by Hildur Björvinsdóttir, Project Manager at the library in 2024.