The Kurdish library was established in February 1996 with financial support from the Future’s Culture Foundation. The government together with the Stockholm municipality remain the main financial backers of the library. The City of Stockholm, the foundation ‘Stockholm the Culture Capital of 1998’, the General Library Association of Sweden, as well as the Swedish Institute have all subsidised various projects of the Kurdish library.
The library was opened on 10 October 1997, and the Minister of Culture, Marita Ulvskog, attended the opening ceremony. In 1999 the library was transformed into a foundation.
The Kurdish library is an independent institution, free of religious or political affiliations of all kinds, and strongly promotes free speech. The purpose of the library is to collect, preserve, distribute Kurdish literature and place it at everybody’s disposal.
The library endeavours to develop and further expand co-operation with different cultural organisations, in Kurdistan as well as in other countries, who maintain book collections and/or run libraries; i.e. whose activities resemble that of the Kurdish library.
About the library
The library is open to the public. Apart from the lending of books, other services, such as copying and inscanning of certain material, are also provided. Requests for more extensive services will be subject to a fee. If need be, books not available can be ordered from other libraries.
In order to make available as much relevant and recent material as possible to its visitors, the library closely follows all publication of books related to Kurds and Kurdistan.
Opening hours
Tuesday-Friday 10.00 – 17.00 and Saturdays 12.00 – 16.00
Where to find the library?
By taking citybus number 65 from Vasagatan (by the Central Station) you reach the small island of Skeppsholmen. Get off the bus after crossing the bridge, turn immediately to the left and walk along the water, following the signs leading to the Kurdish library.
By Stockholm underground; travel to Kungsträdgården and take the exit towards Arsenalgatan. Go straight ahead, past Grand Hotel and the National Museum, cross the bridge over to Skeppsholmen, turn left and follow the clear signs.
The research corner
The library provides excellent facilities to students and researchers, insofar as a computer with an attached printer and also means of inscanning is offered to scholars at all levels.
Children activities
The Children’s Corner of the library offers a pleasant environment for children. Here it is possible to read books, listen to music, write and draw. Story times for children are also arranged in collaboration with various organisations.
Educational visits
We welcome all educational visits from organisations, study circles and schools.
The Kurdish Library on the Internet
The address to our own homepage on the Internet is as follows: http://www.kurdishlibrary.org
The library collection
The considerable effort made by the Kurdish Library in terms of enlarging and expanding its collection includes all printed material regarding Kurds and Kurdistan.
The collected material is registered and systematised according to established rules. The database for articles has the same structure as that used by universities. The aim is to make all collected material available on the Internet.
The book collection
This collection about Kurds and Kurdistan consists of books written in all Kurdish dialects, complemented by books in other languages, such as Arabic, Armenian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, English, Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. Various books by Kurdish authors are also represented in the overall collection, which covers specialist literature as well as fiction and children’s books. Several dictionaries in different languages are also available.
The library’s book-collection increases rapidly in volume through continuous purchases and donations. Many of these newly acquired books were published in Kurdistan, and have previously not been available outside the Kurdish areas. This whole collection, witch are available in our home page, will in the near future be part of the LIBRIS database, enabling access from the Internet.
Journals, periodicals and magazines
Some 300 periodical publications in Kurdish and other languages have been collected, of which some 200 constitute older periodicals no longer published. All are being indexed according to subject field, category and author.
News articles
"The Kurds in massmedia" is a section with relevant newspaper articles from the whole world. The press cuttings include shorter news items as well as articles and interviews with and about Kurds from hundreds of different papers, journals and news agencies worldwide.
Since mid-1996, news about Kurds on the Internet has also been covered in detail. The library has several thousand articles in various languages in the form of electronic texts. When adequate resources are made available, this material will also be properly registered and systematised.
Leaflets, brochures and posters
Leaflets published by all Kurdish political and cultural organisations are accounted for, and will be registered in due course, starting in 2000. A number of brochures and posters have been collected along with public information in Kurdish as well as other languages.
Academic works about kurds and kurdistan
A collection of essays, dissertations and doctoral theses from universities around the world that have not been published as books, constitutes a special section of the library. The material, available in the form of hardcopies or electronic text, may be used for study and research purposes.
The photo collection
This specific collection comprises copperplates, photographs, film slides, postcards and negatives. Part of the collection has become digitised in connection with the exhibition "Swedish photographers in Kurdistan". All exhibited photographs have been available in digital form since the end of 1998.
Vollection of audio and visual material
Music tapes and videocassettes have been collected and registered. Video recording of folklore material, conferences and annual meetings of Kurdish groups and organisations as well as local Kurdish radio broadcasts, have been placed in the archives and are available for studies and research.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Program activities
A wide range of exhibitions, covering fields such as Kurdish art and handicraft, are continuously organised in the library, which also arranges diverse literary and cultural events – lectures, visits by authors etc.
Books banned in Turkey, referred to as "The forbidden books", are permanently displayed in the library.
"Book news", is the name of a permanent exhibition of newly published books in Kurdish and books about Kurds and Kurdistan in other languages. This presentation is found on the library homepage on Internet.
CO-OPERATION
Reference group
The library has a certain reference group attached to it, consisting of prominent Kurdological scholars from various parts of the world. Members of this group are: Prof. Joyce Blau (France), Prof. Martin van Bruinessen (Netherlands), Dr. Michael L Chyet (USA), Dr. Mirella Gelletti (Italy), Dr. Amir Hassanpour (Canada), Prof. Shakiro Khido (Russia), Dr. Philip Kreyenbroek (Germany) and Prof. Izzedin Mustafa Resul (Iraqi Kurdistan).
The Friends of the Kurdish Library Society
This society has an executive consisting of Ove Rådberg, journalist, Birgitta Wallin, vice-chairman, Eva Melldahl, secretary and fellows Hevi Sabri, Suzanne Osten, producent, Aziz Alis.
The Foundation The Kurdish Library
The foundation the Kurdish Library was formed on 25 August 1999 and consists of representatives from various Kurdish and Swedish organisations: Kalli Klement, chairman (the Friends of the Kurdish Library Society), Aycan Bozarslan, vice chairman (Kurdish National Association), Nedim Dagdeviren, secretary (director of the library), Prof. Martin van Bruinessen (from Reference group), Anna Gustafsson-Chen (the General Library Society of Sweden) and Lars Olsson (The Royal Library).
One member from the Kurdish writers as living in Sweden, will be chosen through election by 2000.
Other organisations
The Kurdish Library is part of a group organised by the Stockholm county library to promote co-operation between international institutes operating in similar fields in the area of Stockholm. This group consists of Arena Norden, The Finnish Institute, The French Institute, The Goethe Institute, The Greek Cultural Centre, The Italian Cultural Institute, The Kurdish Library and The Polish Institute. This group is presented in a leaflet containing addresses and opening hours.
Street
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Phone +46-8-679 88
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