A fee will be charged for uncollected reservations
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 1 June 2021.
The fee will be €1 per reserved item, such as a book or a record. The fee will not be charged from people under 18 years old, home services customers, flexible customers or organisation customers, such as schools and daycare centres.
The purpose of the fee is to get the reserved material more quickly to the library’s customers. Reservations have become more common in libraries in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. At the same time, it has become more common not to pick up the reservations.
Every year, 2.8 million reservations are made in Helmet libraries. Of these reservations, 14 per cent are never picked up. So every year, 400,000 reservations sit on the shelf in vain waiting for pick-up, while someone else is waiting to get them.
Unnecessary strain on the environment
Failure to pick up reservations slows down the circulation of material, prolongs reservation queues and reduces customer satisfaction with the library. Unnecessary transport of books to different parts of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area puts a strain on the environment.
Staff working time is also freed from processing uncollected reservations for other tasks.
Most Finnish municipalities have already introduced a fee for uncollected reservations. The fee has not diminished the popularity of reserving materials in these municipalities.
Cancel or freeze your reservations
There is no charge if you pick up your reservation by the last pick-up date or cancel your reservation.
You may cancel your reservations any time. You may also freeze your reservations before they are on their way.
If you no longer need an item you have reserved, you can cancel the reservation either in the Helmet online service by logging in to your account, in the Taskukirjasto application or in the library’s customer service.
You can also freeze the reservation for the duration of a holiday or other absence. During the freeze, your reservation will proceed in the queue normally, but it will not be delivered to you until you have unfrozen it. A reservation cannot be frozen if it is already waiting to be picked up at the library or is on its way to you from another library. You can freeze and unfreeze your reservations in the Helmet online service.
Frequently asked questions about the fee for uncollected reservations
In other respects, the changes to the user regulations and the updated fee appendix will enter into force on 1 February 2021.
Helmet Library user regulations starting from 1 February 2021
Loan periods and fees starting from 1 February 2021
Foto: Maarit Hohteri / City of Helsinki