20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Ensuring access to information, knowledge andcultural experiencesBarbro Wigell-RyynänenMinistry of Education and Culture – HelsinkiFinland is the seventh largest of European countries, with a populationof 5,3 million only. The country is technologically advanced and there is agood infrastructure also in the rural areas.Currently there are 348 municipalities, but the municipal servicereform will bring bigger units, former main libraries will become branchesand some of the branches might even be closed down.The physical library network consists of 888 libraries and 160 mobilelibraries.All public libraries belong to some regional library network, withcommon library systems and joint catalogues on the web. This close andsuccessful cooperation started in the mid-nineties, during the economicalrecession of that time, as, at the same time, libraries got computers andInternet connections that made cooperation easy. The cooperation and thenew technology actually made it possible for the public libraries to offermore, and better services than before, in spite of severe budget cuts in themunicipalities.Public libraries are very diligently used in Finland, in 2008 there were19 loans and 11 library visits per capita. Virtual visits on library websiteswere nearly as many as the physical library visits.Library legislation and Government fundingThe first Finnish Library Act was issued in 1928. The current librarylegislation is from 1998.The 1998 Library Act strongly connected public libraries with theinformation and knowledge society.