Information

You can contact the information services by email, phone, chat or at the library.

Please book an appointment for information retrieval guidance, and you will get a chance to search for information together with a library expert.

Information search lasting less than half an hour is free. More extensive commissions will be charged according to the valid price list.

Our information service helps you to find information and materials from the National Collection and the fields of humanities represented by the library collections. On commission, we perform information searches on the printed and digital collections of the library as well as other online materials.

You can submit an information retrieval request by email, by phone or on site at the library information service point.

• Maksullisen asiantuntijatyön tilaus (eLomake, in Finnish)

At the ILL borrowing services of the National Library of Finland, we order loans and reproductions for you from other libraries in Finland or abroad.

We will find the work required for you and get you a loan or a copy as affordably and quickly as possible. It is also possible to order material that is not available at that moment in time at the National Library.

Using the customer premises of the National Library of Finland and the materials from the open collections and the reference library in the reading rooms does not require a library card.

Who can get a National Library card?

National Library card can be granted to a person, who:

Home loans and reading room loans

Taking out loans from the National Library of Finland requires a National Library card. You can check out materials using the self-service book-lending machines located on our library premises. For borrowing materials, you will need a library card and the four-digit PIN code. All books borrowed must be returned within 28 days.

What materials can I copy myself and what not?

You may copy materials available for home loans and in the Reference Library. According to the law, you may make copies of published materials for private use also in the case that the copyright of the work is still valid. 

Self-copying of the following materials is not allowed due to reasons related to ensuring their preservation, but you can order reproductions of them from the Reprographic Service.

Researchers and university students can apply for designated facilities in the National Library for long-term and intensive work via an application.

Self-service hours at the National Library

• Mon–Fri from 9 am to 10 am and from 5 pm to 6 pm

There is no customer service during self-service hours, and the Special Collections Reading Room is not open.

(Customer service is open on Mon–Fri from 10 am to 5 pm. See Opening hours.)

During self-service hours you can