Special collections and donations
The library houses several special collections and donations.
The Nordkalott Collection
Literature on the Nordkalott is located on the ground floor. There are also the parts of Ragnar Lassinantti's collection that deal with the Nordkalott region. Other books from Lassinantti's book collection are located in connection with the library's various collections.
All literature is placed in the library's Nordkalott collection. This collection currently consists of about 8000 volumes in all subject areas and is a collection that continues to grow.
For the Nordkalott collection, literature about Norrbotten and the North Calotte in general is primarily acquired. In addition, literature is purchased on northern Finland and northern Norway, on the Kola Peninsula in Russia and the entire Barents region.
Among famous older travelogues included in the collection are e.g.:
- Acerbi, Giuseppe: Travels through Sweden, Finland and Lapland to the North Cape. London 1802
- Outhier, Reginaud: Journal d'un voyage au Nord en 1736 & 1737 Amsterdam 1746
- Brooke, Arthur de Capell: A winter in Lapland and Sweden. London 1827
- Skjöldebrand, Anders: Voyage pittoresque au Cap Nord. Stockholm 1801
- La Motraye, Aubrey de: Voyages du... en Europe, Asie & Afrique. 1727
Ragnar Lassinantti
Ragnar Lassinantti (1915-1985) was a Social Democratic member of parliament from 1957 to 1966. Between 1966 and 1982 he was the County Governor of Norrbotten. In both his roles, as member of parliament and County Governor, he worked without respite for the development of Norrbotten and for a closer co-operation between the countries forming the Arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula. His strong interest in cultural, educational and linguistic issues relating to the Arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula are evident in the book collection he left behind.
Ragnar Lassinantti was during the 1960s strongly committed to the establishment of a university in the County of Norrbotten and in 1970 it was decided that Luleå, among several competing cities, was the location of the new technical university.
In 1981 he received an honorary doctorate from Luleå University.
Ragnar Lassinantti died in 1985.
- Read more about Ragnar Lassinantti
External link.
Page in Swedish
Book and art collection
In the autumn of 1990, Luleå University received a collection of books in the form of a deposit that was registered and made available via the library. In 2012, the university became the formal owner of the collection. The collection consists of about 10,000 volumes, mainly literature in the subjects of history, social sciences, geography, literary studies, art, religion and fiction. The literature is focused on Nordic conditions and contains about 2000 volumes on the North Calotte, which includes literature on the Sami and Laestadianism. The literature is in Swedish, Sami and Finnish. The books are registered in the national catalog Libris. The largest part of the collection is available for home loans, entirely in the spirit of the educator Ragnar Lassinantti.
The literature that deals with the North Calotte is collected and placed in the so-called North Calotte Collection. Here are works from both Lassinantti's book collection mixed with the university library's titles.
The following are examples of works on Ragnar Lassinantti or written by him:
- Lassinantti, Ragnar: S'oon valehtelematon tosi: pakinoita ja puheita. 1979.
- Lassinantti, Ragnar: Synpunkter och skildringar. 1965.
- Laukkanen, Markku: Nordkalottens gudfar. 1992
- Nordkalott: Ragnar Lassinanttis perspektiv. 1990
Art consisting of works by local artists, older maps and sculptures is included in the collection donated to Luleå University of Technology.
Private archives
Ragnar Lassinantti's private archive contains scripts for his speeches, correspondence, newspaper clippings, audio tapes with radio programs from the 50s and 60s, etc. The archive has been listed and is available at the university library in Luleå, available for research purposes.
The radio program Pohjoskalotti is available as an audio tape in the archive. The audio tapes are also digitized and can be listened to via Nordkalottens cultural and research center.
- Archive list of Lassinantti's private archives (.pdf)
Pdf, 25.7 kB, opens in new window.
- This version posted 20150401, in Swedish
Ragnar Lassinantti had an important role when the university was established in Luleå. In his archives the following document was found in which the Planning Office at the County Administrative Board of Norrbotten County in 1981 made a compilation of background data (see below).
How is the archive accessible?
The archive is available for research purposes, please contact the library for more information.
The radio show Pohjoskalotti is available as audio tapes in the archive. The audio tapes are also digitized and can be listened to via Nordkalottens cultural and research center.
Mats Winsa
In the University Library's collections there are a number of architecture books donated by the family of the architect, Mats Winsa. The books are for loan and can be found in the Library Catalog.
Mats Winsa (1955-2018) was an architect both in Tärendö in Pajala municipality and in Luleå. In 1983 he graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and has also traveled and studied in Arizona in the USA.
After graduation, he worked at the AOS architectural office in Stockholm and MAF architectural office in Luleå. After that he started his own company, Mats Winsa architectural office. He was also a city architect in Överkalix and Pajala and a member of the Sauna Academy.
Together with Per Persson, Mats Winsa received the Träpriset in 1992 for the museum Vuollerim 6000. In 2002 he received Sweden's architects Upper Norrland's award for the information building adjacent to Kattilakoski in the Torne River.
Mats was very active in Sweden's architects upper Norrland and also within the union centrally. He was a diligent debater with integrity and played an important role as a freelance architect. In all his works we can see philosophical positions and strong substantiated design concepts regarding floor, facade and detail solutions, material choices, which are adapted to the site.
The architecture books that were donated by his sister to the Luleå University Library at Luleå University of Technology reflect a typical book hold for a very ambitious architect who has lived through several architectural styles, books from the 80s to 2018s, with a shift from postmodern to deconstructivism to new functionalism.
/ Hans Walloschke 2019-10-22
Mining companies - annual reports
The Library has acquired a collection of annual reports from over 1 500 mining companies in the world, and spanning the years 1884 - 1975.
The collection of annual reports is located in the open stacks on the lower level and can only be read at the library. No home loans or interlibrary loans.
The years covered by the annual reports vary - for some companies there are reports for long continuous periods while other companies are only represented by single years. The list of companies represented and the years available can be found in the attached document.
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