LIBRARIES FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP - GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Seminar 13 September 2004, Helsinki, Finland
Stydy tour 14-15 September 2004
BOOK 2010
Development trends
in the book trade
Available
to read and print at:
http://www.jyu.fi/nykykulttuuri/Kirja2010/book2010.pdf
- Finnish Library Association
- SOME FACTS ABOUT FINLAND
- LEGISLATION
- ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
- STATISTICS AND MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
- FINNISH INFORMATION SOCIETY -PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY STRATEGIES IN FINLAND
- LIBRARY NETWORK
- INFORMATION AND ADDRESSES
- links
NORDIC MOBILE LIBRARY FESTIVAL 2002
FINNISH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
- SUOMEN KIRJASTOSEURA -
NATION WIDE ORGANISATION
Vuorikatu 22 A 18, FIN-00100 Helsinki, Finland
tel. 358 + 9 - 6221 340 (office), e-mail fla@fla.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; just now there are working parties on copyright and for children´s library work. There is also a strategic working party looking at the future for libraries, and a standing committee for music libraries.
- has a politician as President, other Board members are librarians; the President, Ms. Tarja Cronberg is a member of the Finnish Parliament
- has an annual budget of about 450,000 euros (466,000 US $), of which half comes from Kirjastolehti, the monthly library journal; 25% from state and other public aid and 15% from membership fees; the rest consists of occasional incomes
- 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 information society, the development of librarianship and information studies education, and the image and status of library work
- arranges study trips to Finnish libraries for foreign scholarship-holders and study tours abroad for members
PUBLISHES
- Kirjastolehti (8 numbers/year, also on Internet, - circulation about 5,000)
- Posters, brochures
- Other publicationsSOME FACTS ABOUT FINLAND - PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN FINLAND
- has 5,1 million inhabitants in a sparsely populated country (ca. 16 people/km2)
- capital: Helsinki, ca. 0.5 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 the first Nordic country 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 25-50% 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
Library units in total: 987
Main libraries: 431
Branch libraries: 464
Book Mobiles: 197- has high usage of public libraries:
20,6 loans and 12.8 library visits per inhabitant in 2002- produces public library services effectively:
the total public library cost per inhabitant was 43 euros in 2002- about 97% of the libraries have automated library systems
- over 90% of municipal libraries provide access to the Internet, 50% provide free public access to their catalogues through the Internet
FINNISH INFORMATION SOCIETY -
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY STRATEGIES IN FINLAND
Library Strategy 2010: Policy for access to knowledge and culture
Library Strategy 2010 presents visions and objectives regarding access to knowledge and culture; it identifies challenges and development needs; it details measures aimed at securing information services for all citizens, and it outlines the roles of local authorities and the state.
Finnish Library Policy Programme 2001 – 2004. More information about the strategies www.minedu.fiThe national recommendation of one Internet terminal per 1000 inhabitants would mean 3.600 new terminals. At present some 30 % of Finnish municipalities provide Internet services in the recommended extent.
Basic values of the information society are: the right and ability to make use of information, to practice citizenship, the right and ability to self-expression and creativity, access to information, data protection, copyright
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. Espoo City Library
3. Hämeenlinna City Library
4. Joensuu City Library
5. Jyväskylä City Library
6. Kajaani City Library
7. Kokkola City Library
8. Kouvola City Library
9. Kuopio City Library
10. Lahti City Library
11. Lappeenranta City Library
12. Mariehamn City Library
13. Mikkeli City Library
14. Oulu City Library
15. Pori City Library
16. Porvoo City Library
17. Rovaniemi City Library
18. Seinäjoki City Library
19. Tampere City Library
20. Turku City Library
21. Vaasa City Library
INFORMATION AND ADDRESSES
LINKSHelsinki City Library - National Central Library for public libraries
Address: Rautatieläisenkatu 8, FIN-00520 Helsinki, tel. +358-9-310 8511
http://www.lib.hel.fi/english/Helsinki University Library - The National Library
Address: PL 15, (Unioninkatu 36), FIN-00014 Helsinki University, tel. +358-9-1911
http://www.lib.helsinki.fiRepository Library
Address: Päivärannantie 10, PL 1710, FIN-70421 Kuopio, tel. +358-17-264 6000
http://www.nrl.fiMinistry of Education
Meritullinkatu 10, PL 29, FIN- 00023 Valtioneuvosto, tel. +358-9-16004
http://www.minedu.fi/minedu/culture/public_libraries.html
Information Studies at academic level:
Tampere University, Department of Information Studies
Yliopistonkatu 38, FIN-33014 Tampereen yliopisto, tel. +358-3-215 6111
http://www.info.uta.fi/home.htmlOulu University, Department of Information Studies
Linnanmaa, PL 1000, FIN-90014 Oulun yliopisto, tel. +358-8-553 1011
http://syy.oulu.fi/index_en.htmlÅbo Akademi University (Swedish)
Department of Information Studies
Tavastgatan 13, FIN-20500 Åbo, tel. +358-2-215 4564
http://www.abo.fi/fak/esf/bii/welceng.htm
ELECTRONIC INFORMATION ABOUT LIBRARIES IN FINLAND:
Finnish Library Association - Homepage (Front page):
http://www.fla.fi/english/the common front page of Finnish Public Libraries:
http://www.libraries.fiMulti Cultural Library (MCL)
http://www.lib.hel.fi/mcl/english/index.html
FINNISH LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
FINNISH LIBRARY JOURNAL
Vuorikatu 22 A 18
FIN-00100 Helsinki, Finland
tel. 358 + 9 - 6221 340 (office)
fax. 358 + 9 - 6221 466
e-mail fla@fla.fi
Internet: http://www.fla.fi
MOBILE LIBRARIES IN FINLAND IN THE YEAR 2012
(at the panel of the Nordic Mobile Library Festival 17 August 2002 in Finland, Turku. Antero Kyöstiö, chairman of the Mobile Library committee of the FLA in 2002)
Finland covers 338,000 km2 and has a population of about 5 million. It is, and always has been, sparsely populated. Because of social changes and migration, however, more than 60% of Finns now live in the southern 20% of the country.
Of Finland's 450 municipalities, three quarters have less than 10,000 inhabitants, while only one in 10 has more than 20,000. Co-operation between municipalities is on the increase, and some have even merged recently, but change is very slow.
Today, we have 197 mobile libraries—and that's about 30 less than 10 years ago. This fall is due mainly to financial problems and to internal migration from the countryside to urban centres. Of these 197 mobiles, all but three are owned by individual municipalities. However, some municipalities do buy mobile library services from their neighbours.
So the trend is downwards, but what of the future? Will Finland still have mobile libraries ten years hence? Will there be any need for them in 2012? What can we do to stop the decline?
I'm absolutely certain that these services will be needed long into the future, and I'll tell you why. And I'll go on to say how I think the downward trend can be halted.
First, let me quote from our Library Act of 1999. "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, for internationalisation, and for lifelong learning." Public libraries see it as their mission, therefore, to promote equality among the population in accessing library services, no matter where people live. And you can't do that without mobile libraries.
The Finnish Library Policy Programme 2001-2004 states: "Mobile libraries serve schools in particular, and they are able to be flexible quicker than fixed library units, to change their service profile as needed, to co-operate with others, and to offer accurately aimed services, for instance to children, pupils and the elderly." And there's the essential point. Much more than today, mobile libraries must exploit their powers of flexibility and adaptability. More careful thought must be given to questions such as: which user-groups do mobile libraries really want to serve? who needs mobile library services? When we have the answers, we must get down to some serious planning.
Here are some points to bear in mind when designing mobiles for 2012. For both young and old, the bus will be easier to get in and out of. The interior will be more easily changed, even during the course of the day, to correspond with the needs of specific user-groups. For instance, the mobile may call at schools, kindergartens, residential and nursing homes for the elderly before lunch. In the afternoon the target groups might include adult shift-workers, or those taking care of children at home. In the evening other sectors of the population could make use of the mobile library. Shelf units will be on wheels, perhaps, so that they are easy to remove and exchange. Seats and other furnishings will be equally flexible. All this calls for vehicles and their loading areas to be designed in a way that makes these shifts easy to carry out.
Except for the very first years, mobile libraries in Finland have been of the bus-type and have offered material for all ages. Rural mobiles have one staff desk in the front of the bus; bigger ones operating in urban areas have two, the other positioned in the middle or rear of the bus. But there are signs of change. Today, mobile libraries specially for children operate in three big cities. Also, there is one smaller, adaptable vehicle that can serve either children or the elderly.
I believe that in 2012 Finland will have several mobile libraries specialising in serving certain target groups or providing specific services. I also believe that these special vehicles will be purchased jointly by several municipalities and given larger areas of operation. Mobiles serving different populations, rural or urban for example, will get interiors that are increasingly distinct, reflecting the needs of their customers. Rural mobiles might become shorter than their present 12 metres, perhaps 10 metres and built on a lorry chassis. On the other hand, larger towns might get even longer bogie vehicles of 14-15 metres or articulated buses up to 18 metres. More space will be achieved within as the technology of slide-out walls is developed further.
Most mobile libraries in Finland work only one shift a day. I say 'only', to stress that these expensive vehicles stand idle for the greater part of every day. I believe that by 2012 we will have several mobiles owned jointly by at least two municipalities. This will enable them to run two shifts, and to secure better financing. They will also be less at risk of closure because of financial problems in any one municipality.
New information technology and the potential of online transfer are offering mobile libraries brand new possibilities. Development is so rapid that it's impossible to predict what the situation will be in 10 years time. The Finnish Library Policy Programme 2001-2004 says: "For citizens to get access to information sources, everybody, regardless of where they live, must be offered in-house use of library services. Even in a small municipality, the library can access collections of larger libraries. The local library provides a gateway to national networks." For users of mobiles libraries, their local library is specifically the bus, and therefore it must offer the same information services as fixed libraries. In 2012 these services will be obtained just as easily from a mobile library as from the main library.
Finally, I would like to point out that, thanks mainly to wireless on-line facilities, mobile libraries will have become rolling information service units for citizens by the year 2012. In them, people will easily find all sorts of information about municipal issues, and get help and information of many other kinds (earlier today we heard about the experiment in Kemijärvi – this should not be included in the distributed version).
In the mobile library people can also manage their banking, post office matters and contacts with various authorities; they can receive and hand in forms of many kinds, print out quickly and easily pages about whatever may interest them, use the e-mail and so on. In 2012 the possibilities will be limitless. Particularly in the countryside, mobile libraries will become not only rolling information service units but also multi-service buses. I would, however, like to point out that even ten years from now, where mobile libraries are concerned, the emphasis should be on library operations.
The use of information and communication technologies requires that mobile libraries be designed in a way that makes it possible to carry out these visions. Even if it might seem remote today, preparations for all of this must be made now whenever planning for the acquisition of a new bus. Alterations can be made later, of course, but they might prove expensive. I'm convinced that in mobile libraries of the year 2012 customers will have their own terminals. Connections will be very fast, and there will be all kinds of other gadgets as well. All this will require more electricity. Luckily, silent and non-polluting power sources are already being developed: solar panels for the bus roof, fuel cells, more efficient batteries and so on.
I would like to end by asserting that mobiles libraries will not become extinct in Finland. Unlike vanishing folklore, they are very flexible and adaptable and will remain a vital part of public library services.
Antero Kyöstiö