FINNISH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: Organization to promote the ideology of the library Lobbyist for the libraries Developer of the library field

SINIKKA SIPILÄ Secretary General, Finnish Library Association, President-elect of IFLA http://www.libraries.fi/sinikkasipila

JUKKA RELANDER President, Finnish Library Association

A historian, columnist and essayist. Relander was the chairman of the political program team for the Green League of Finland, and he is also chairman of the men’s movement of the Green League party.

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• FINNISH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION - SUOMEN KIRJASTOSEURA
• NATION WIDE ORGANISATION
• FINNISH LIBRARY JOURNAL

Runeberginkatu 15 A 23, FI-00100 Helsinki, Finland, tel. 358+44-522 2941 (office), e-mail fla(at)fla.fi, Internet: http://suomenkirjastoseura.fi/

• was established in 1910
• has about 2,000 personal members, most working in public libraries; is a professional body, not a trade union; accepts non-librarians as members
• has a light-weight organisation: Board, elected by the members at the annual meeting; the FLA's office (five staff members working full-time)
• The Board can appoint divisions, standing committees and working parties. There are 10 working parties in 2011
• has often a politician as President, other Board members are librarians or other library professionals ; the President from 1.1.2010 is Mr. Jukka Relander
• has an annual budget nearly 900,000 euros (ca. 1,3 million US Dollar), from Kirjastolehti, the monthly library journal, from state and other public aid and from membership fees. The rest consists of occasional incomes
• membership fee 2011 : basic members 45 euros, students 21 euros, retired members 25 euros, institutions 100 euros
• is a member of IFLA and EBLIDA, collaborates in Nordic and Baltic ventures, has more and more international activities

ACTS

• organises campaigns for the libraries, provides decision makers with expert information on the subject
• organises further education courses and several theme days annually, and the nationwide Library Meeting every two years
• runs projects with various partners; for example with the Ministry of Education
• participates actively in topical debates; current discussions concern the role of libraries in the society, the development of librarianship and information studies education, and the image and status of library work
• arranges study trips to abroad for members

PUBLISHES

• Kirjastolehti (4 numbers/year, 1 special issue, websites)
• Posters, brochures
• Other publications

SOME FACTS ABOUT FINLAND - PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN FINLAND

• has 5,4 million inhabitants in a sparsely populated country (ca. 16 people/km2)
• capital: Helsinki, ca. 0.59 million inhabitants
• has a co-operative library network: public libraries in every community, which serve also as school libraries, university and other research libraries, a repository library and many special libraries (financed wholly by the state)

LEGISLATION

Finland was one of the first Nordic countries to have a Public Library Act - in 1928, later Acts date from 1961, 1986, 1992 and 1999.

The salient points of this legislation are:

• it is the duty of local authorities to arrange library and information services
• the library is a basic municipal service
• the use and loan of library materials are free of charge for the client

ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

• Municipal public libraries are financed from tax revenues. Public libraries are run by the local authorities, who also determine the extent of services provided
• Municipalities receive statutory state aid for operating a library. The municipalities decide independently the amount allocated to libraries´operating cost
• Libraries receive state aid for the construction of a library and for the purchase of a bookmobile on application. Nearly all main libraries have been constructed with state aid

STATISTICS AND MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Public libraries 2010:

• Main libraries: 312
• Branch libraries: 486
• Book Mobiles: 154
• has high usage of public libraries: 18 loans and 10 library visits per inhabitant in 2010
• produces public library services effectively: the total public library cost per inhabitant was 55 euros in 2009
• Internet services of the libraries were used 57 million times a year
• 100% of municipal libraries provide access to the Internet

FINNISH PUBLIC LIBRARY POLICY 2015 IS BASED ON THE NATIONAL TRADITION OF CULTURE EDUCATION

Library policy The Ministry of Education and Culture outlines library policy and prepares legislation on libraries for Parliament. The Ministry's work in the library field is governed by aims set in the Government Programme, and in Finnish Library Policy 2015. Information about the strategies http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2009/liitteet/opm31.pdf

REGIONAL LIBRARY NETWORK

1. Helsinki City Library is the central library for public libraries. Twenty other city libraries act as Regional Central Libraries, supporting local libraries in their own areas:
2. Hämeenlinna City Library
3. Joensuu City Library
4. Jyväskylä City Library
5. Kajaani City Library
6. Kokkola City Library
7. Kouvola City Library
8. Kuopio City Library
9. Lahti City Library
10. Lappeenranta City Library
11. Mariehamn City Library
12. Mikkeli City Library
13. Oulu City Library
14. Pori City Library
15. Porvoo City Library
16. Rovaniemi City Library
17. Seinäjoki City Library
18. Tampere City Library
19. Turku City Library
20. Vaasa City Library

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INFORMATION AND ADDRESSES LINKS

Helsinki City Library - National Central Library for public libraries, Address: Rautatieläisenkatu 8, FI-00520 Helsinki, tel. +358-9-310 8511 http://www.lib.hel.fi/en-GB

The National Library of Finland Address: PL 24(Unioninkatu 40), FI-00014 Helsinki University, tel. +358-9-1911 http://www.nationallibrary.fi/index.html

Repository Library, Address: Päivärannantie 10, PL 1710, FI-70421 Kuopio, tel. +358-17-264 6000 http://www.nrl.fi

Ministry of Education, Address: Meritullinkatu 1, PL 29, FI-00023 Valtioneuvosto, tel. +358-9-16004 http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Kirjastot/?lang=en

Information Studies at academic level:

Tampere University,Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media, infim@uta.fi http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/infim/english/

Oulu University, Department of Information Studies, Linnanmaa, PL 1000, FI-90014 Oulun yliopisto, tel. +358-8-553 1011 http://www.oulu.fi/english/

Åbo Akademi University (Swedish), Department of Information Studies, Fänriksgatan 3,FI-20500 Åbo, tel. +358-2-215 4564 http://www.abo.fi

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION ABOUT LIBRARIES IN FINLAND:

Ministry of Education http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Kirjastot/?lang=en

Libraries.fi, the common front page of Finnish Public Libraries: http://www.libraries.fi

Finnish Library Association - Homepage (Front page): http://suomenkirjastoseura.fi/

Finnish Library Architecture:

2000s http://libraries.fla.fi

1990s http://www.fla.fi/arkkitehtuuri/indexe.html

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FINNISH LIBRARY JOURNAL

Runeberginkatu 15 A 23, FI-00100 Helsinki, Finland, tel. 358+40-487 1118, e-mail fla(at)fla.fi, Internet: http://kirjastoseura.kaapeli.fi/etusivu/lehti/in_english