Skip to main content
  • Contact information
  • University of Helsinki
  • en
  • fi
  • sv
National Library
Menu
  • Home
  • Current
    • News
    • Events
    • The library in social media
    • Blog Scripta selecta
    • Publications
    • Video recordings
    • Exhibitions
    • The National Library of Finland newsletter
  • Using the library
    • Working in the Library
      • Rules of the National Library of Finland
      • Rules for the Special Collections Reading Room
    • Loans and returns
      • Interlibrary services
    • Material requests
      • Material delivery times
    • Price list for services
    • Library card
    • Reprographic service
    • Applying for ISBN and ISSN identifiers for publications
    • Research and teaching services
      • Collection presentations for students
      • Reserved research premises
    • Information
      • Self-service library
      • Changes in autumn 2019
      • FAQ
  • Collections
    • Browse our collections
    • Availability and use of materials
      • Licenses and conditions of use of electronic materials
    • Development of collections
    • Material acquisition principles
  • Services
    • Evaluation tool services
    • Digitising and preservation services
    • System platform services
    • The Finnish National Bibliography Service
    • Licensing services
    • Conversion and transmission services of metadata
    • Metadata reserve services
    • Expert services of data description
    • Legal Deposit Service
      • Legal Deposit Office
  • Cooperation
  • Info
    • Opening hours
    • Contact information
    • Visiting the library
    • Accessibility
    • Guided tours
    • Press and media
    • History
    • Architecture
  • Home
  • Current
    • News
    • Events
    • The library in social media
    • Blog Scripta selecta
    • Publications
    • Video recordings
    • Exhibitions
    • The National Library of Finland newsletter
  • Using the library
    • Working in the Library
      • Rules of the National Library of Finland
      • Rules for the Special Collections Reading Room
    • Loans and returns
      • Interlibrary services
    • Material requests
      • Material delivery times
    • Price list for services
    • Library card
    • Reprographic service
    • Applying for ISBN and ISSN identifiers for publications
    • Research and teaching services
      • Collection presentations for students
      • Reserved research premises
    • Information
      • Self-service library
      • Changes in autumn 2019
      • FAQ
  • Collections
    • Browse our collections
    • Availability and use of materials
      • Licenses and conditions of use of electronic materials
    • Development of collections
    • Material acquisition principles
  • Services
    • Evaluation tool services
    • Digitising and preservation services
    • System platform services
    • The Finnish National Bibliography Service
    • Licensing services
    • Conversion and transmission services of metadata
    • Metadata reserve services
    • Expert services of data description
    • Legal Deposit Service
      • Legal Deposit Office
  • Cooperation
  • Info
    • Opening hours
    • Contact information
    • Visiting the library
    • Accessibility
    • Guided tours
    • Press and media
    • History
    • Architecture
Using the library /Information /

FAQ

We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions from our customers. If you don’t find what you need here, contact our information service desk.
  • Faq
Index
How can I get a library card?
What can I bring with me to the library?
Is there some way I can prepare for a library visit?
What material is available to me online?
What do I do if I can’t find what I’m looking for?
How do I get to Fabiania from the main building?
What can I do at the library?

Kiertokäyntivideo: vastauksia yleisimpiin kysymyksiin

 

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.

University of Helsinki employee cards can also be activated for library use. 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.

 

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 1929. 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.

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

  • ask the information service to search for the information
  • material can also be requested from other libraries for an interlibrary loan
  • make a justified acquisition proposal

How do I get to Fabiania from the main building?

There is an underground passage between the main building and the Fabiania wing. The passage in the main building opens from the bottom floor next to the café Rotunda. On the Fabiania end, the passage starts at the elevators and runs through the Aquarium corridor towards the main building.

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!

About us

The National Library of Finland is the oldest and largest scholarly library in Finland.
It is responsible for the collection, description, preservation and accessibility of Finland’s printed national heritage and the unique collections under its care.
  • Duties and strategy
    • Board of Directors
    • Organisation
    • Directors
    • The National Library of Finland as an employer
  • Partnerships
    • Networking
    • Statistics
    • Projects
  • Contact
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Kansalliskirjasto Facebookissa
  • Kansalliskirjasto Twitterissä
  • Kansalliskirjasto YouTubessa
  • Kansalliskirjasto Instagramissa
Kansalliskirjasto

The National Library of Finland
P.O.Box 15 (Unioninkatu 36)
00014 University of Helsinki
Telephone:
+358 2941 23196

© University of Helsinki 2015