When the present Main Library in Aarhus was built in 1934, books were the primary medium.

The world of media has changed drastically since. The circulation and number of printed media has risen dramatically, and particularly the digital media have been through a drastic development.

Decision on a Mediaspace

In 2001, Aarhus City Council decided to build a Mediaspace, which can meet future needs within use of media.

Mediaspace must be an open space for learning and experience, rethinking the physical frames for the library and provide free and equal access to knowledge sharing and knowledge distribution.

The library and citizens’ services

Apart from developing and expanding The Main Library, Mediaspace will also house Citizens’ Services – which in one service point brings together the public services which most citizens have a need for.

Thereby, Mediaspace ensures the best possible service for citizens through joint service points, cooperation on development of digital self-services, and knowledge sharing on citizens’ needs.

From transaction to relation

Concurrently with the development within media, the role of the library too has changed.

Today, the library is not merely a frame for circulation of media – a ‘place of transaction’.

The library is – and will to an even greater extent in future be – a place, which supports learning. It is not merely a place where we borrow media; we also experience media and enter into new relations with each other and the world.

In other words, the library has changed into a ‘place of relation’.