Thursday, August 27, 2009

To the Bookmobile!

Kristoffer Zetterstrand

The Mobile Library

This is the new book bus and mobile library in Haninge. The book bus is an artwork in itself, designed by the artist Kristoffer Zetterstrand whom I met today. He told me a little about his work. He started on this project back in February. He sometimes works in 3 D, and then often uses the Maya software for his art. After our short talk I asked him to pose for a few portraits. This summer he has had an art exhibition in the Cultural Centre here in Handen, a building that also houses the library. The artwork on the bus covers everything from classical books written in different languages, to modern day computer games. The big unveiling takes place today at Poseidon's Square in Handen. The bus will visit all the pre schools in Haninge and hopefully the kids will discover the joy of reading. It will also visit nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly and for the disabled. And I'm sure I could borrow a book there using my library card.

The New Library

20 comments:

MrsLittleJeans said...

What a nice service!

Lowell said...

That is wonderful! We have mobile libraries, too, but they sure don't look like this one! Very striking and attention-getting!

brattcat said...

Beautiful book-bearing bus. May it serve readers well for many years to come.

Leif Hagen said...

Great snap, Steffe Meister! Do they have a shelf of "Harry Potter" books in the back of the book bus?

Don and Krise said...

Anything that helps put a book in the hands of a child is worthwhile. Pretty sharp VW too.

Unknown said...

I've never heard of a mobile library!

You seem to have a lot of art and artists in Sweden, or at least Haninge.

Olivier said...

moderne (avec de belles peintures) votre bibliomobile, on en a une à Évry, mais plus toute jeune. c'est une très bonne initiative
modern (with nice painting) your bibliomobile, they have one of it in Évry, but more every young person. it is a very good initiative

lemon said...

Very interesting post (and bus)!

We have mobile libraries in Greece, going from big towns to little villages. Not as many as there should be, though.

This word on the back, do you know it is Greek? Λόγος means the ability to talk, to say.

VP said...

Great service, said from a country where even libraries are a burocratic nightmare.
The artwork of the bus is very good and I like the idea of the clusters of multicolor pixels...

Amit Gupta said...

damn nice art work on the bus....thanks for sharing...
amitsmith.blogspot.com

Marcel said...

the book bus, I could read that!

Unknown said...

Really cool, especially the back!

Stefan Jansson said...

I have an update, I visited the opening two hours ago, and actually talked to the artist and told him about my post today. He was very pleased. I took a few photos of him and of the entertainers and politicians that where there. I will make a flickr set of the photos later and post a link here and possibly add a photo of Kristoffer in this post.

Lois said...

It's beautiful! It should really capture everyone's attention.

amatamari© said...

Laudable cultural initiative and splendid shots: the second photo is really beautiful!
Thanks!

tapirgal said...

Hi Steffe,

You inspired another post of the waterfront in Astoria. What I didn't say because I'm not sure it's true, is that I am guessing the old pilings would not be left in place in Europe, because except maybe for Norway (??) the space is needed. Here in the western part of the US, there are fewer people for the amount of land that's available. But there are other reasons, and I've talked about that on today's post. Thanks for your comment! Isn't it fun to share cultures this way?

tapirgal said...

Another very interesting post. We have some book mobiles in the US, but I don't remember seeing one for a long time myself. I love the artwork, and your fist shot is nice in that it includes a good shot of the people on the street.

Frank said...

I think it is so smart to combine the work of artists with rolling/mobile billboards like a bookmobile (and bloodmobiles.) The artist's work looks awesome and I imagine he loves all of the attention he and his work is receiving from all over the world - and the people seem to enjoy it, too. Great find!

Anonymous said...

This is a nice post. I like the photos.

Pick a Peck of Pixels

mijou.com said...

Cool bus I have to say!