“The objective of the library and information services provided by public libraries is to promote equal opportunities among citizens for personal cultivation, for literary and cultural pursuits, for continuous development of knowledge, personal skills and civic skills ...”

This is how the Finnish Library Act
defines the task of public libraries of
promoting equal opportunities for
personal development among citizens.
Libraries are avidly used in Finland.
According to a published study carried
out some years ago, approximately 80
% of the entire population uses public
library services. Above all, young
people and well-educated persons use
these library services. The remaining
20 % are either too young or too old,
but there are of course other groups
that do not use the services. According
to the study, professional groups, such
as entrepreneurs and farmers, comprise
the majority of those people who feel
they do not need library services at all.

What about those citizens who want to
use library services and who feel they
need them, but, for different reasons,
can't use the usual services?

The Library for the Visually Impaired
serves visually impaired people and
people who have reading difficulties.
Through new technology, activities and
services are diversified to meet patrons’
needs. The idea behind Finland’s Library
for the Visually Impaired is to provide
the opportunity to access information,
study, and to cultivate an interest
in literature and art -in other
words, the goals are much the same as
those in the Library Act.
Specialized services are being developed
in public libraries for user
groups that need them. Home delivery
service is not a new concept. Those
using the delivery service are mostly
elderly persons for whom going to the
library is an impossible task. The home
delivery service at the Oulu City Library
has been developed into a full service,
which takes the patrons’ wishes
and needs into consideration.

Courses and instruction to learn skills
needed in an information society are
arranged for senior citizens. The digital
gap is an age-related issue in a welfare
society. Literature discussion circles
and ‘book talks’ are organized for the
elderly, and not only for children and
the young.

Immigrants, new citizens, form a group
whose cultural background does not
always include the self-evident use of
libraries. Furthermore, new citizens
often have language problems and family
situations and life backgrounds,
which are unlike those of the mainstream
population. Espoo is one of the
three cities included in Finland’s capital
region. Immigrants are hired there
to fill special job positions, which do
not require an education in the library
field. Of all the employees, approximately
five percent have a foreign background.
When I recently visited the
Sello library in Espoo, I noticed how a
young immigrant custodian could
bring added value to his work, functioning
as a link and an assurance that the
library is acting out of equality and
with respect for other cultures.

Not only youths with immigrant backgrounds,
but also youth in general,
form a group which needs services
specifically for their needs. For a young
person, the library can be a very important
place that influences his or her
development propitiously and provides
aid in difficult life management. However,
we must develop suitable services
for the young, otherwise they won't feel
comfortable in the library - or they will
go there only to have a roof over their
heads and to meet their peers. Adults
may also feel left out; many problems
accumulate easily in certain residential
areas. By investing in library services,
we can favourably influence the area’s
development and the residents’ lives.

In our countries, it is required to attend
school until a certain age, but
going to the library is voluntary. Library
services are used if people feel they
are useful or enjoyable. As it is expressed
in the Library Act, libraries aim to
promote equal opportunities for the
personal cultivation of citizens. Available
resources, the size of the budget or
project financing and sufficiency of
staff, as well as creative thinking and
enthusiasm for the issue, influence how
diversely services can be developed.
Thorough knowledge of one’s own
district aids in understanding the real
needs and assists in tailor-designing
practical services. The library offers an
opportunity - the rest is up to the
patron.

Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen
Counsellor for Library
Affairs
Ministry of Education
and Culture
Finland

barbro.wigell-ryynanen@minedu.fi

Translated by Turun Täyskäännös