There is a library in Norway where books are kept on display, but no one on Earth is allowed to read them. Not now, not tomorrow, not in our lifetime. These books will only be opened 100 years from now. Sounds unreal, right? But it’s true. It’s called the Future Library Project, and it might be the most magical and meaningful library in the world.
Future Library Project In Norway Is A Forest That Will Become Books
In 2014, artist Katie Paterson did something unusual. She planted 1,000 young spruce trees in a forest just outside Oslo. But these trees weren’t just for nature. They were planted for a very special purpose: In the year 2114, these trees will be cut down and turned into paper for printing books that no one has ever read, ones that are being written right now.
So right this moment, as you read this, there is a quiet forest growing somewhere in Norway, and inside it lies the future of literature. Every year, people hike to this forest for a ceremony. They walk under the tall trees, listen to birds, watch the sunlight flicker through the leaves, and witness an author hand over a secret manuscript that won’t be read for a century.
Now imagine entering a room that feels more like a sacred space than a library. On the top floor of Oslo’s Deichman Library sits the Silent Room, built from 16,000 pieces of wood carved from the forest’s older trees. The walls look like tree rings. Each of the drawers has a writer’s name etched on it; for example:
- Margaret Atwood, 2014
- Elif Shafak, 2017
- Han Kang, 2018
- Ocean Vuong, 2020
- Amitav Ghosh, 2025
Inside each drawer is a manuscript that is visible but impossible to open. People who visit the room must remove their shoes. As they stand there quietly, they’re surrounded by stories you can see but cannot touch, waiting for someone who hasn’t been born yet. It’s both strange and beautiful.
A Library That Exists For People Who Aren’t Born Yet
The project invites writers whose work has shaped our time and who are expected to inspire people even a century from now. Some of the authors include Margaret Atwood (the first writer to join the project), David Mitchell, Elif Shafak, Han Kang, Karl Ove Knausgård, Ocean Vuong, Valeria Luiselli, and Amitav Ghosh (India’s contribution to the future)
Amitav Ghosh will hand over his manuscript in 2026. He will never see it published, and neither will we. But someone in 2114 will hold his book in their hands, fresh and new.
The Handover Ceremony takes place every year in the Future Library Forest. The author reads a small excerpt, not from the manuscript, but something symbolic—and hands over the sealed text. And everyone watches the forest that will someday become a book.
We live in a world of instant publishing, instant reactions, instant likes, instant everything. But this project asks us to slow down, to think in centuries instead of seconds. It’s a powerful reminder that Art can be patient, acting as a gift meant for people we will never meet. It’s rare to see a project with such hope that the future will still care about books, forests, imagination, and storytelling.
The Future Library is more than a bookshelf or a forest. It tells us that storytelling doesn’t belong to one generation. And in 2114, when those trees are finally cut, and the first pages are printed, a new world of readers will open the books we never got to read.
Until then, all we can do is watch the forest grow and feel grateful that something this gentle and thoughtful exists in our world.
Cover Image Courtesy: Future Library/Instagram