Director of Library Services in Espoo has participated in planning a library network for Namibia

It is a busy time in the Sello library when we are interviewing Ritva Nyberg. As we go around the shelves, the Director of Library Services starts to pick up interesting books here and there, books she says she has not happened to notice before. Usually, however, the busy director mostly listens to audiobooks.

“I’m interested in historical novels, and I also read a lot of Anglo-American literature.  Ann-Christin Antell’s Puuvillatehtaan perijätär, Joan Didion’s books and Arundhati Roy’s literature are thought-provoking. I keep looking for new books to read in Helsingin Sanomat. However, I don't borrow many books from the library, because I want to read them right away,” Ritva says, surrounded by books.

Ritva’s working days in Espoo Library Services vary. However, a typical day includes tasks related to planning, development, reporting, strategic management and finances.

Ritva has completed a Master of Arts degree with a major in information science. She has studied a lot of other things as well, including theoretical philosophy, Hungarian language and literature, and South Asian studies. 

Ritva feels very much at home in Espoo. The Director of Library Services has just completed her Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) studies together with 24 other Espoo colleagues.

“Every day I wonder how nice all the people are here! You encounter many different ways of thinking, not just one kind of people. Furthermore, Espoo does not discriminate against people based on age. Here, people don’t think that it would not be possible for you to study and move forward on your career at the age of sixty,” Ritva says joyously. 

Ritva’s experience from the library sector goes far back. She was employed at the City of Vantaa for 25 years, most of the time specifically in library tasks. After that, Ritva worked shortly for the library of the City of Lahti, until she decided to seize an attractive job opportunity and ended up in Espoo.

“From the perspective of Vantaa, the Espoo residents appeared distant and clamorous,” Ritva says now, laughing.

Ritva is particularly proud of the fact that Espoo City Library was named the Library of the Year at the London International Book Fair in 2019. According to Ritva, Espoo has always served as an innovative model people follow in other respects as well.

“Here, we have a really customer-oriented library, which has been a major change during my career. The old idea of the library was that we sit here and wait for the customers to come to us. Today, customers are included as much as possible,” Ritva elaborates.

When you walk around the Sello library, you really notice that the library is much more than just books: musical instruments to borrow, different events and groups.

One of the highlights of Ritva’s career was the urban cooperation between the City of Vantaa and Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, that lasted 10 years. It was aimed at building a library network in Namibia. Ritva visited the country several times and hosted Namibian visitors in Finland.

“I have many fun culture-related memories from those years, such as participation in local cultural events. I was impressed by the joy, positivity and hopefulness with which people encountered everything, even though life was challenging in many ways, and resources were scarce.”

In Namibia, things like power cuts and wild animals became familiar, but so did get-togethers with local project staff in the evenings. The starting point for the project was the idea that Vantaa would make expertise available, but the resources and funding would come from Namibia. The approach was used to ensure that the work would continue even after the project. The locals were included from the very start.

“We started from a slum area. I’m sure that money would have been needed for many other purposes as well. However, the project was successful, as the library network also started to spread to other parts of the country, the children’s department was expanded, and school classes were always looking forward to visiting the library. In the past, there was only one public library, intended for white people only, to which the locals had no access at all,” Ritva says, describing the starting points of the project.

A lot of expert assistance was needed, as there was no training in the library sector, and those who had studied abroad went to work in university libraries. The idea of developing a public library network later spread to Tanzania, and, of course, Ritva was involved in that as well.

When she was in Namibia, Ritva interviewed young people as part of her university studies. She found out that, as people get older, they often lose their hope due to the high national unemployment rate.

“It has always frustrated me in Finland that people complain about things for no real reason. I have developed a sense of proportion about what is worth fighting for,” Ritva says.

Ritva spends her free time rehearsing with the bands Rector's Nightmare and End of History and playing music with her spouse. She also spends time running, going to the gym and, of course, reading.

When she was young, Ritva did not dream about working in a library. Music has always been an important part of the current director’s life. In her youth, Ritva used to spend so much time touring Europe with her band, which played pop music in English, that she eventually stretched her studies to more than ten years.

“I had this rock star dream, and my studies were delayed when I lived in Germany and Hungary. When I was young, I even used to play on the streets! Today, we mostly perform at university events and other parties,” Ritva says. 

If you are looking for something Christmassy to do, Ritva advises you to participate in the libraries’ Christmas carolling events. Other programme includes Christmas-themed crafts workshops and a lot of Christmas activities for children.

In December, libraries also have a lot of other things to offer than just Christmas-themed activities. Ritva recommends that you get acquainted with the book clubs and meditation in libraries, for example.

“There are many book clubs in libraries in the evenings and Bokcirkel for Swedish-speakers.”

For example: 
December book club of Kohtuusklubi (Entresse Library, Fri 19 December) is a book club focused on a lifestyle based on living in moderation. It is part of the activities of Kohtuusklubi, belonging to the Uusimaa District of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation.

An open meditation group (Lippulaiva Library, Sun 14 December) is an ideologically independent group that aims to introduce meditation into the lives of Espoo residents. The meditation takes place as part of the normal life at the library, so the background sounds and occasional passers-by are part of the process.

“I’d really need this meditation! I should calm down a little.”

In addition to activities in libraries, Ritva would be interested in participating in these events:

Tapiola Sinfonietta: ENCOUNTER (Espoo Cultural Centre, Thu 11 December)
“I was at a Tapiola Sinfonietta Indie concert earlier, and it was a fantastic wake-up call!”

Emma Salokoski & Ilmiliekki Quartet Christmas Tour (Espoo Cultural Centre, Fri 19 December)
“This could interest me, because they have a great singer, and it’s wonderful to listen to merry Christmas music.”

All Female Panel: Paljastuksia (K18) (Sello Hall, Thu 11 December)
“A little bit of humour!”

Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA(external link, opens in a new window) (Exhibition Centre WeeGee)
“I’ve visited many art exhibitions, and EMMA’s exhibitions are always interesting, whatever they have on! I haven’t been to Exhibition Centre WeeGee in a while.”

See what else is going on in Espoo Cultural events in Espoo.