Act on Library Services

Act on Library Services Library Act 904/1998 Issued in Helsinki on the 4th of December 1998 In accordance with a decision of Parliament the following is enacted: Chapter 1 Objectives 1 § This act prescribes the library and information services to be provided by municipal public libraries, and the promotion of these services both nationally and regionally. 2 § 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. Library activities also aim at promoting the development of virtual and interactive network services and their educational and cultural contents. Chapter 2 Arranging library and information services 3 § The municipality shall be responsible for arranging the library and information services referred to in this act. The municipality may provide the library and information services independently, or partly or totally in co-operation with other municipalities, or in any other way. The municipality is responsible for the services being in accordance with this act. Library users shall have access to library and information professionals, and to continually renewing library material and equipment. In a bilingual municipality, the needs of both language groups shall be taken into consideration on equal grounds. In the municipalities of the Saami home area, the needs of both the Saami and the Finnish language groups shall be taken into consideration on equal grounds. Chapter 3 The library and information service network 4 § A public library shall operate in co-operation with other public libraries, with research libraries and with libraries in educational establishments, as part of the national and international networks of library and information services. The libraries acting as the central library for public libraries and as provincial libraries supplement the services of public libraries. The central library for public libraries is a public library in a municipality appointed by the relevant ministry, with the consent of the municipality. Its sphere of operations shall be the whole country. A provincial library is a public library in a municipality appointed by the relevant ministry, with the consent of the municipality. The sphere of operations shall be laid down by the relevant ministry. The tasks of the central library and the provincial library shall be enacted in a decree. The relevant ministry can, after consulting the municipality, cancel the designation as central or a provincial library Chapter 4 Library services free of charge 5 § The use of the library's own collections within the library and borrowing from them shall be free of charge. Interlibrary loans issued by the central library and by the provincial libraries to public libraries shall be free of charge. For other library transactions, the municipality may charge a fee amounting to the prime cost of the transaction at the most. For a specific reason, the fee which would otherwise be fixed to amount to the prime cost may exceed this. Chapter 5 Evaluation 6 § The municipality shall evaluate the library and information service it provides. The purpose of the evaluation is to improve access to library and information services and to promote their development. The evaluation shall monitor the implementation of the library and information services and the quality and cost-effectiveness of the services. Each municipality is obliged to take part in evaluation referred to by this clause. Decisions about national evaluation and about national participation in international evaluations shall be made by the relevant ministry, which shall carry out the evaluation together with the State Provincial Offices. The municipality shall contribute to the evaluation referred to in this subsection. Salient findings of the evaluation shall be made public. Chapter 6 State administration of library and information services § 7 The relevant ministry shall be the national administrative authority for library and information services. The State Provincial Office shall be the regional administrative authority. The tasks of the State Provincial Office shall be enacted in a decree. Chapter 7 Miscellaneous regulations 8 § The library system shall have a sufficient number of staff qualified for library and information service and other personnel. The qualification requirements for library staff shall be enacted in a decree. For a specific reason, the relevant ministry may grant exemption from the formal qualification requirements. 9 § The municipality shall receive statutory state aid towards the costs of operating the library under the Act on the Financing of Educational and Cultural Provision (635/1998). The municipality shall receive a government grant towards the costs of constructing and renovating a library under the Act on the Financing of Educational and Cultural Provision. The purchase of a mobile library bus or boat shall also be regarded as construction. 10 § The library may issue library rules which contain provisions concerning the use of the library and the rights and duties of the library user. Infringement of the library rules shall be chargeable with fines commensurate with the infringement. 11 § More detailed provisions on the application of this act shall be issued by statute. Chapter 8 Entry into force 12 § This Act shall come into force on the 1st of January 1999. The statutory state aid and state subsidies referred to in this Act may be allocated from the proceeds of pools and lottery until the end of 1999. This Act repeals the Library Act (235/1986) of 21 March 1986 and all amendments thereto. Done in Helsinki, on the 4th of December 1998 President of the Republic MARTTI AHTISAARI Minister Liisa Jaakonsaari


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