Dear Finnish librarians
Hello. I’m a korean student.
I am planning to travel around the Europe with four friends, and we want to look at different libraries overseas because we all work at a school library and got interested in libraries with different characteristics.
Here, libraries of Finland are the most important place in our plan.
Unfortunately, until recently, Korea thought of the library only as a place to store and read books.
So, we want to see new kinds of libraries, which are not just a place for people to read books, but a place that have eco-friendly technology and structure, eletronic system, a variety of programs, a free atmosphere and so on.
In that sense, I thought libraries of Finland were interesting cases which are not existent here in Korea.
I looked up your homepage in order to find out how to make a reservation for visiting, but then I came up with a few questions.
First, can I ask for a brief guide such as library program, electronic system, administration system and so on?
Second, how should I make a reservation if I can?
Third, If it's hard to guide you, what's the extent to which we can see for ourselves?
Sorry for so many questions. If there’s anything else I need to know besides this, please let me know. We have not fixed the date of our visit yet, but I think we will visit at the early February. Thank you very much.
Answer
Information about Finnish libraries and Finnish library system can be found on the library-pages of the Ministry of Culture and Education, https://minedu.fi/en/libraries. You can read about the library network, financing, policies and legislation there.
You can read about developing libraries and the future of the Finnish libraries in Library for Citizens An essential part of the Finnish know-how, https://www.kirjastot.fi/sites/default/files/content/yleisten-kirjastojen-suunta-2016-2020-web-en.pdf
I'm sure you want to visit Oodi, our new, beautiful library and a living meeting place in the center of Helsinki. You can really see there how all the functions of a modern library live in one building in harmony. You can ask for tours, https://www.oodihelsinki.fi/en/tours/
Other interesting libraries can be found all over Finland, you can visit for instance this Finnish library buildings -site to read about different kinds of libraries, https://www.libraries.fi/buildings. For example Turku main library, several libraries in Espoo could be of interest. It depends of course also of your plans how you are aiming to travel in Finland, which locations suite you best.
In the site Libraries.fi you can find information and links, https://www.libraries.fi/ and short facts about Finnish libraries in a brochure https://www.libraries.fi/sites/default/files/content/in-finland-libraries-are-basic-service-for-everyone-brochure-web_0.pdf
I include the mail addresses of the contact persons in Helsinki City library.
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