Kvindelig Læseforening facts for kids
The Kvindelig Læserforening (which means Women Readers' Association in English) was a special library just for women. It was a private club where women could become members and borrow books. This library was open from 1872 to 1945 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The building where it used to be, on Gammel Mønt street, was designed by Ulrik Plesner. Today, a newspaper called Weekendavisen is located there.
History of the Women Readers' Association
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The Women Readers' Association started on October 1, 1872. A woman named Sophie Petersen (born Alberti) had the idea to create it. She was inspired by a similar library for women in Sweden.
When it first opened, the library had 1,007 books. Many women wanted to join, and the number of members quickly grew. Because so many people joined, the library needed bigger spaces several times.
In 1910, the Women Readers' Association bought a piece of land. It was at the corner of Gammel Mønt and Antonigade streets. A new, four-story building was finished there in 1910. It was designed by Ulrik Plesner and Aage Langeland-Mathiesen.
This new building had many useful areas. There were rooms for reading and a place to borrow books. It also had a restaurant. On the top floor, there were even hotel rooms just for women. This idea for hotel rooms came from the Martha Washington Hotel in New York City.
The association became very important in the 1900s. By the 1930s, its library had 100,000 books. This made it the biggest private collection of storybooks in the Nordic countries.
However, in the late 1940s, fewer women became members. The association started to have money problems. In 1941, they sold their building to a newspaper company called Berlingske Tidende. The Women Readers' Association finally closed its doors in 1945. The building later became home to the newspaper Weekendavisen.
Presidents of the Association
- 1875-1879: Kirstine Frederiksen
