The Finnish library system

Abstract

Within the panorama of considerable development shown by the countries of Northern Europe in the field of public libraries, the situation of Finland was until recently characterized by a state of a certain marginality and little importance. Today the situation in Finland is, on the contrary, one of considerable structural and functional development and widespread distribution of the institutes, both at university and research level and at the level of public libraries 
In Finland, political-administrative action regarding cultural institutions is under the control of the Ministry for Education, which is divided into two departments, one for culture and one for education. The first of these administrations is responsible for state programmes and interventions for public libraries, while the second looks after the university, research and school libraries. 
There was a radical change in the field of public libraries starting from the Sixties, with the establishment of a model of Welfare State, the peculiarity of which was a strong impulse given to all kinds of structures, especially cultural structures. This led to a firm commitment of joint financing between State and municipality for the development of the library system. 
The Seventies saw a real boom in State cultural investments. This meant a process of centralization that led to a drastic reduction in the number of independent local libraries and a considerable expansion in the services of mobile libraries. Above all, the district library systems which hinge on the local libraries were developed and the latter were attributed the role of "provincial" libraries. This type of semi-decentred and cooperative organization was ratified in the 1986 library law. This legislation made municipal library service obligatory and confirmed the joint financing of the State and local bodies on the basis of parameters fixed by the same law.
Even more recently, the 1998 law made an important contribution to the subject of the development of the services as a necessary and obligatory factor. The basic results of these must be made public and the entire operation is entrusted to the Ministry, with assistance from the state provincial offices and the municipal libraries at local level. 
The effects of these legislative and administrative interventions have been considerable and allows Finland to take its place today among the countries that have one of the most advanced library systems. 
An important example is that of the urban library system of the city of Tampere.
Generally speaking, even in the smaller towns the country has modern and efficient library structures that have been built with advanced architectural criteria and which have good library collections, audiovisual material and computer equipment.