About a decade ago libraries across the world faced a dilemma. Their vital functions — to supply books and access to information for the public — were being replaced by Amazon, e-books and public Wi-Fi.

To fight for their survival, said Loida Garcia-Febo, president of the American Library Association, libraries tried to determine what other role they could play. “They invented these amazing new initiatives that are finally launching now,” she said. It took them this long to raise money and build them.

In the past few years dozens of new high-profile libraries have opened close to home and across the world. And they certainly don’t resemble the book-depot vision of libraries from the past.

To attract visitors from home and abroad, many libraries have advanced, even quirky amenities. They have rooftop gardens, public parks, verandas, play spaces, teen centers, movie theaters, gaming rooms, art galleries, restaurants and more. The new libraryin Aarhus, Denmark, has a massive gong that rings whenever a mother in a nearby hospital gives birth.

Ms. Garcia-Febo knows of multiple libraries offering free work space for growing numbers of entrepreneurs. These aren’t just alternatives to coffee shops, spaces for people to pull out their laptops and work. The libraries have fancy meeting rooms for them to meet with potential clients, business librarians who can help them solve their financial challenges, and classes to teach them vital skills. At no cost, it’s a much cheaper option than spending hundreds of dollars for a desk at WeWork.

Libraries are supplying the public with other features they may not have at home. Twenty years ago that was books. Now it’s expensive new technology like 3D printers, laser cutters and broadcasting studios for podcasts and movies. Visitors are going to libraries to try before they buy. Other people just want to play with something that may not ever be able to afford.

On Dec. 6, 2018, Finland celebrated its 101st anniversary of independence from Russia. One day before, the Finns received an anniversary present: a new central library named Oodi.

The library’s facade is made almost entirely of spruce, sourced from Finland. It has steel and glass structures mixed in, creating a soft, inviting look. The Helsinki government allocated 68 million euros to the project as well as a prime spot opposite the Finnish Parliament (the federal government provided 30 million more). A local firm, ALA Architects, won the commission over 543 other competitors.

Only one third of the 185,000-square-foot space is allocated to books (transported by specially designed robots); the rest is community space designed for meeting and doing.

At the “book heaven” on the top floor, visitors sprawl out among potted trees and on specially commissioned wool carpets. An urban workshop on the second floor has sewing machines, scanners and printers as well as laser cutters and soldering stations, with spaces allocated to sewing, making badges, and even playing the drums. There is room for pop-up markets and entrepreneurs can rent out work stations to meet with colleagues or clients. There are pop-up information desks where organizations can inform visitors about their work.

In March, Oodi welcomed its one millionth visitor. “We have tourists from all over the world visiting, but mainly from Europe mostly, China, Japan and America,” said Anna-Maria Soininvaara, the library’s director. “Usually they want to experience the Maker Space and ask where all the books are because the shelves are always half empty because they’re all on loan.”

DUBLIN, IRELAND

Museum of Literature

On St. Stephen’s Green, the Central Park of Dublin, there are three grand Georgian buildings, one of which was built by the architect Richard Cassels (also known as Richard Castle) in the 1700s. Behind them are lush Victorian gardens that open up to more secret oases. One has a 200-year-old strawberry tree.

These structures were previously the original home of the University College Dublin, where many of Ireland’s most famous writers studied. On September 20, they will be open to the public for the first time, as home to the Museum of Literature Ireland, or MoLI.

Visitors will be able to see the old physics theater where James Joyce set a chapter of his “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and the original print of “Ulysses,” famously called copy number 1. The bedroom of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins is still intact and will be available for viewing. Private letters from Joyce have been pulled out of storage for display.

The museum will also have a Joyce Research library and a reading room. There will be seats for working in the garden. “We are re-landscaping what we think is the only publicly accessible historic house garden in Dublin,” said Simon O’Connor, the museum’s director. “We take that responsibility seriously.”

He’s also excited about the museum’s radio station that will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Academics, musicians, and writers passing through the cities can stop in,” he said. “This is a living, breathing thing.”

CALGARY, CANADA

Calgary New Central Library

Calgary’s New Central Library has a train running through it, as the site was designed to accommodate an active Light Rail Transit Line that already existed. The lobby is an arched bridge that lets locomotives go under it, and in “living rooms” patrons can sit on swirly chairs and watch them zoom by all day.

The library, which opened last November, was built to replace the existing downtown branch. “The old central library location was almost too small from the moment it opened,” said Kate Thompson, the vice president of development who led the project. “Calgary’s population has doubled since that time.” The new building offers 60 percent more space.

The library goes from “fun” to “serious” as visitors ascend the spiral staircase. On lower floors there are two cafes, a teen center, a children’s space and a 320-seat theater. The highest floor is the Great Reading Room, a more traditional library space surrounded by wooden planks. “There are no signs on the walls to ask for silence,” said Ms. Thompson. “But the room is always in a state of hushed silence as people study and read within the wooden oasis.”

Calgary is one of many Canadian cities getting a new super-library, as the locals call them. Ottawa is spending $192.9 million on a library scheduled to open in 2024 that will highlight views of the scenic Ottawa River and an exhibit space for the national archives of Canada. And in February 2020, Edmonton, Alberta, plans to debut its new Milner Library. Among its amenities will be a 65-inch multi-touch table in the lobby for visitors to play games, participate in surveys and make digital art.

DOHA, QATAR

Qatar National Library