Completed in 2018 to commemorate Finland's 101st year of independence, Helsinki's Oodi library is public architecture at its best. Shaped like a ship, with copious use of Finnish spruce, it has three levels that serve as Helsinki's public living room. While it does have books, it is by no means an exhaustive academic collection. Instead, it is more a community center. The first floor has a busy buffet, book checkouts, and meeting rooms.
Floor two contains small conference rooms, a lecture space, and a maker space and game studio. Equipment includes 3-D printers, sewing machines, vinyl cutters, etc. I donated a euro for supplies to make a denim patch with a cat reading a book. It turned out very well despite my mangled efforts and the use of a hot iron.
On the third floor is "Book Heaven" with reading couches interspersed with living trees, a cafe, raised viewing platforms on either end, and, on our visit, a very popular outdoor terrace. From Book Heaven you can look out toward Finland's parliament and Finlandia Hall. I was charmed.
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