News flash

Pack some snacks and a book, it's time to get outside with Kirjastokurre!

The meeting and collection facilities of the Helmet libraries will be closed to customers between 30.11.2020 and 30.4.2021, but the libraries will remain open in limited form for short-time visits. 

Over 3 000 in-demand magazines are now available through OverDrive alongside ebooks and audiobooks in the Libby app and on OverDrive site. 

From now on your reservations will have an identifying number telling the place in the reservation shelf. You can find the reservation number from the reservation notification sent to you.

The largest contributor to the carbon footprint of libraries is energy consumption. Thirteen pilot libraries throughout Finland participated in the study conducted in autumn 2020. Kallio Library from Helsinki was among them.

The winners of the writing competition held by Helsinki City Library have been selected.The theme of ‘hope’ inspired almost 300 writers, some wrote also in English.

In 2020, the use of libraries’ e-materials has reached unprecedented heights. However, not all Finns are in an equal position, because the availability of e-materials in libraries differs from one municipality to another. This is one of the problems that the libraries’ digital media project aiming at a one-stop-shop e-library wants to change. 

The visits to the online services of the libraries in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area increased by three million compared to 2019. Customers read and listened to plenty of e-books, but the borrowing of digital magazines gained the most immense popularity.

HelMet libraries are moving from plastic book coatings to plant-based coatings.The libraries will move to the more environmentally-friendly material as new materials are coated and once the old plastic reserves are used up. At the same time, they are studying how many books can be left uncoated for environmental reasons.

The Helsinki City Library Dispatch Department is congested, and you may have to wait longer than usual for your reserved materials. You can also telephone the library and reserve material available on shelves.

Helmet libraries will start charging customers a fee of €1 for reservations that have not been picked up or cancelled by the last pick-up date. Reserving materials will continue to be free of charge.
The uncollected reservation fee will be introduced as the coronavirus restrictions on libraries are relaxed, but no later than 1 June 2021. The time will be announced later.

The due dates of Helmet libraries’ loans have been automatically extended during the coronavirus restrictions that entered into effect on 30 November 2020. However, loans will start becoming due again from 1 February 2021 onwards.