The Human Library is closing the Reading Garden in Copenhagen
Sunday, October 5, 2025, will be the last opening day of the Human Library’s Reading Garden in Copenhagen. This brings to an end five years in which thousands of Copenhageners and visitors from all over the world have had the opportunity to “borrow a human” in soothing green surroundings in the middle of the city.
A garden where people connect
The Reading Garden was established in 2020 as part of a collaboration between the Human Library and the City of Copenhagen and it is a free learning experience for the city’s citizens and visitors. The vision was to create a space where people could walk in off the street and engage in impactful conversations.
Legendary Hip Hop recording artist Kurtis Blow borrowing a book in the Human Librarys Reading Garden in Copenhagen, Aug 2025.
“We are incredibly grateful for the time in Nørrebro and our hosts Kulturhuset Union have been a fantastic partner. The Reading Garden has given us a home where our books and readers could connect in a built to purpose setting. However recent global developments in the inclusion field has created a situation where we no longer have the economic means to uphold the lionshare of costs as we have for the past five years,” says founder Ronni Abergel.Â
Kurtis Blow, IKEA and 19 mayors from South Korea
Over the years, the Reading Garden has been the setting for hundreds of public events with books on loan to people who came in from the street, but also for institutional visits and readers from companies. In August, employees from IKEA visited but also the Danish Tax Dept have been by to borrow books.
The reader list includes a delegation of 19 Mayors from South Korea, 18 Universities from 14 countries, 25 educators from Palestine and most recently, American hip hop legend Kurtis Blow visited the Reading Garden. The memories are many and all of them are good.
Last day October 5
Because no matter who you are, everyone benefits from being allowed to challenge their prejudices without being judged. And readers from all over the world have taken advantage of this over the years in the Reading Garden and for some it was on their bucket list to visit.
The public can still experience the last events of the season before the Reading Garden closes permanently on October 5.
“We hope that many will stop by in the last weeks, so that we can say a proper goodbye together,” is the invitation from founder of the Human Library, Ronni Abergel.
The Human Library’s Reading Garden is located at Nørre Alle 7 in Copenhagen and it is free for all. There is an entire website dedicated to the garden, which you can find here.
