I conduct research into the sustainability of library books in Europe. Could you inform me about the prevailing opinion in Finland about the laminating of library books to protect the books in case of intensive use and to extend their life. Are there any standard guidelines for public libraries? Are the books laminated by the library itself or by a supplier?
Many thanks in advance for your response!
Answer
Thank you for your enquiry. There are no national guidelines for laminating the book in Finland. Every municipal library can decide individually about the ways of laminating or protecting the book. In Helmet libraries (municipal library for Helsinki metropolitan area) laminating is done by the supplier. That is part of the deal with the supplier.
At the moment, Kuopio city library (in Eastern Finland) in experimenting with non-laminated books. The idea is to experiment how the books will last without lamination in the normal library circulation. The goal of the experiment is to lead Finnish libraries into more sustainable ways of producing and handling library material. We can expect results from the experiment after two years from now.
Add new comment