Kvindelig Læseforening

Kvindelig Læserforening (English: Women Readers' Association) was a membership-based, private library for women which existed from 1872 until 1945 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its former building on Gammel Mønt (No. 1) is designed by Ulrik Plesner. It now houses the newspaper Weekendavisen.

History

Kvindelig Læserforening was founded at the initiative of Sophie Petersen on 1 October 1872.^[1] It was inspired by Läsesalong för Damer in Sweden. The library initially comprised 1,007 volumes. The number of members quickly grew and it outgrew its premises several times. In 1910, the Women Readers' Association purchased a lot at the corner of Gammel Mønt and Antonigade and constructed a four-storey building designed by Ulrik Plesner and Aage Langeland-Mathiesen on the site. It contained reading rooms, a lending department, restaurant and hotel rooms for women on the top floor. The association gained increased momentum and became a power factor in the 1900s. With 100,000 volumes, its library developed into the largest private collection of fiction in the Nordic countries in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, the number of members began to decline and the association experienced economic difficulties. In 1941, it sold its building to Berlingske Tidende. The Women Readers' Association closed in 1945. The building has later housed Weekendavisen.

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