National Library of Finland

The National Library of Finland (Kansalliskirjasto, Nationalbiblioteket) is the foremost research library in Finland. Administratively the library is part of the University of Helsinki. From 1919 to 1 August 2006, it was known as the Helsinki University Library (Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto).

The National Library is responsible for storing the Finnish cultural heritage. By Finnish law, the National Library is a legal deposit library and receives copies of all printed matter, as well as audiovisual materials excepting films, produced in Finland or for distribution in Finland. These copies are then distributed by the Library to its own national collection and to reserve collections of five other university libraries. Also, the National Library has the obligation to collect and preserve materials published on the Internet to its web archive Finnish Web Archive. The library also maintains the online public access catalog Finna (online database).

Any person who lives in Finland may register as a user of the National Library and borrow library material. The publications in the national collection, however, are not loaned outside the library. The library also is home to one of the most comprehensive collections of books published in the Russian Empire of any library in the world.

The National Library is located in Helsinki, close to the Senaatintori square. The oldest part of the library complex, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, dates back to 1844. The newer extension Rotunda, designed by architect Gustaf Nyström, was completed in 1906. The bulk of the collection is, nonetheless, stored in Kirjaluola (Finnish for “book cave”), a 57600 m3 underground bunker drilled into solid rock, 18 m below the library.

Databases and public services

 * Finna – nationwide search engine at finna.fi
 * Digi – digitized newspapers and publications
 * Finto – thesaurus and ontology service at finto.fi
 * The National Library collections database
 * Fennica – The Finnish National Bibliography
 * Viola – the Finnish national discography
 * KANTO – National Agent Data is a data repository and the national authority file for persons and corporate bodies in Finland.  Kanto is maintained by the Agent Metadata Service of the National Library. The id on the LOC source list for the Kanto database is finaf. All agents have a permanent identifier in the  http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:au:finaf: namespace. Kanto replaces the earlier Finnish Corporate Names database. Read more in the Information package on Kanto – National Agent Data. Browse agents: KANTO in the Finto.fi service