FAQ

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions from our customers (FAQ). If you don’t find what you need here, contact our information service desk.

Index

How can I get a library card?

You can get a National Library card, which is valid at the National Library of Finland, from the library’s information service desk by providing a proof of identity. Anyone that is over the age of 15 with a Finnish social security number and street address may get one. The National Library card is free of charge and immediately usable.

Further information on the Conditions of Use.

What can I bring with me to the library?

As you arrive in the library, you will be asked to leave your outer clothes, umbrellas and large bags at the cloakroom free of charge. You are not allowed to take drinks or other snacks into the library either.

The cloakroom and the information service desk can provide you with a basket to hold books and your personal items.

These limits are in place due to security reasons – we want to protect our valuable collections from unintentional damage.

Is there some way I can prepare for a library visit?

Absolutely, and it’s worth doing. Only a part of the books and magazines are on the open collection shelves. Everything else must be ordered in from our repository for you to make use of them at the library. You can use the National Library of Finland’s search portal at kansalliskirjasto.finna.fi to search for material. For each piece of material, you will be able to see its availability data:

  • If the work is in the open collection, you may pick it up from the shelves
  • If the work has been taken out by another customer, you may make a reservation
  • If the work is in the repository, you may make a reservation

Material requests will be picked up by 11 a.m. on the next business day, apart from select exceptions.

 

How do I get to Fabiania from the main building?

An underground passage connects the main building and the Fabiania wing. The route is marked with blue dots on the floor. Follow the blue dots going down the stairs from Rotunda all the way to Fabiania. The route leads up and down stairs, through the café and past the Aquarium.  

In Fabiania you will find e.g. the Slavonic Library, the Music Library and the Special Collections Reading Room.

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What can I do at the library?

All of our library’s four reading rooms are available for you. The only exception is the Special Collections Reading Room, which requires separate permission.

Our library has a Wi-Fi connection. You can also use the library’s customer terminals for information searches.

Our library’s main building, Rotunda, has a pick-up shelf, where you can pick up the material you have requested or reserved.

Material requested for reading room use will be delivered to Special Collections Reading Room at Fabiania if they are National Collection material; everything else is delivered to Rotunda.

It is possible to read microfilms at the library as well as to use legal deposit copy workstations to read digitised material that is copyrighted.

The library's reprographic service  will help you with getting reproductions, or copies, of the material you need.

There is a book return machine in the entrance lobby.

The library buildings are also host to exhibitions and various cultural events. These exhibitions and events are free of charge and open according to the library’s opening hours.

Groups may also reserve a guided tour of our culturally and historically significant library building – welcome!

 

What material is available to me online?

Some of our material is available directly online! Visit digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi for digitised versions of Finnish newspapers and magazines up until 1939. Various collections can also be found at the doria.fi institutional repository as well as the Finnish archives’, libraries’ and museums’ single search service, Finna.

How do I borrow a book when the search service shows no holdings?

Is it a newer Finnish book, e-book or e-audiobook? The lack of availability information in the search service is likely due to the fact that the book is on its way to the National Collection, but we currently only have advance information regarding the title. Once the book has been received and processed, the availability information will be displayed and a reservation can be made.   

Books in the National Collection are not eligible for home loans, they can only be read in the library's Special Collections Reading Room. The National Collection is an archive collection of Finnish published heritage, collected as legal deposit and preserved for the benefit of future generations.   

Similarly, the e-resources in the National Collection can only be accessed at workstations in the legal deposit libraries, not on your own device.

I reserved a book. When can I come pick it up?

Because the majority of the National Library’s collections are stored in closed stacks, material delivery times vary from one to three working days, depending on the collection. As an example, the delivery time for materials in the Humanities and Slavonic collections is one day, for the National Collection two days and for maps three days.

You will receive an email when the reserved items have been delivered.  The message will also tell you where the loans can be picked up from or which reading room they have been delivered to.

Read more about material delivery times.

What do I do if I can’t find what I’m looking for?

If you can’t find what you're looking for, you can

How do I return a special collections reading room loan?

Did you receive a due date reminder in your email, but the book is in the special collections reading room? Don't worry, you don't have to rush to the library – you can return the materials simply by emailing us at nationallibrary@helsinki.fi.  

If you already as you’re leaving the reading room know you no longer need the materials, you can return them to the staff or leave them on the return desk.  

Special collections reading room loans have a loan period of four weeks, and they can be renewed three times in our search service. Overdue fees are never charged for reading room loans.