Hollola is a municipality in southern Finland with approximately 20,000 residents. The patrons of the municipality’s library bus can enjoy a rare service; as far as we know this library bus is the only library bus in Finland which has an info TV. The 19- inch, glass-protected TFT monitor, located at the front of the bus, is a very versatile information channel. The info TV displays information about the library and about other administrative areas in the Hollola municipality.

“The information displayed includes
answers to questions most frequently
asked by school children, such as how
much does a new library card cost,
what are the borrowing times and
where can the borrowed books be returned.
For adults, there is information
about official opening hours or which
public employees can be reached during
summer vacation, for example, in
the building inspections offices. All
possible information can be conveyed
via the display to residents,” says Pasi
Sivenius, display designer and implementer,
library bus librarian and
driver.

The bus’ display works with Power-
Point Viewer and Power DVD software.
The system supports all CD and DVD
formats. Thanks to the DVD viewing
feature, the librarian can check the
DVDs returned by patrons. If the disc
is scratched or it is dirty, it can also be
smoothed or cleaned on the spot in the
bus. The sound card enables audio
from the display, so that information in
audio form can reach those who can’t
read, for example.
Almost all of the information shown
on the display can be typed in on site
in the library bus. An industrial computer
which withstands bumpy roads
was acquired for the bus specifically for
this purpose.

The computer also enables bulletins to
be posted quickly. Processing animated
images, however, requires special programs
(Pinnacle and Ulead) which the
library bus does not have. Pasi Sivenius
says, “The bus’ display is constantly
changing and with the PowerPoint
presentation, it can be updated with
material within a few minutes of my
having received it, because the work
can be done in the bus and the information
for the bulletin can be passed
by phone to the bus.” According to Sivenius,
updating the information display
is not at all difficult or slow, because
the computer has slide templates.

“The display has been well-received
among patrons; they no longer have to
skim through dozens of wrinkled-up
pieces of paper and pages on a small
bulletin board, which only has room
for a few pages.”

Pasi Sivenius feels that the service
range offered by the bus to residents
has expanded significantly. The information
on the bus display is distributed
to a wide area, because the bus’
area of operation is approximately 600
square kilometres. The bus’ range of
patrons is also large, because, in addition
to the usual evening stops, the bus
visits schools, daycares, retirement residencies
and homes for the elderly.

A second info TV can be mounted in
the back of Hollola’s library bus for
different events and campaigns. This
feature was last used on Finland’s national
library bus day in Kuusamo, when
the information display in the back of
the bus showed a presentation of the
history of Hollola municipality and the
municipal library, while the other display
was playing a DVD which provided
information about the activities
of the library bus.

Even though the current info TV and
its operation in the library bus can be
considered advanced, Hollola has not
‘kicked back its feet’.

“The next-generation information centre
that I now have on my drawing
board will go even further in its functionality
and technology than this first
generation,” says library bus librarian
and driver Pasi Sivenius.

Mervi Heikkilä
Library Director
Nurmo Municipal Library

mervi.heikkila@nurmo.fi

Translated by Turun Täyskäännös