Financing of libraries

The state finances library services by allocating central government transfers to local government. In addition, the Ministry of Education and Culture may grant discretionary government transfers to public libraries for carrying out special tasks and projects. 

The Ministry guides and directs the operations of the National Library of Finland, which is one of the research libraries and has certain national responsibilities, and its funding is determined in the Budget. The funding of university libraries, libraries of universities of applied sciences and special libraries is determined by the organisation to which they belong.  

Public Libraries

Municipalities receive central government funding for the organisation of library services. The funding covers part of the costs arising from library operations. The purpose of the system of central government transfers to local government is to guarantee the availability of public services and to balance out differences between municipalities when it comes to the costs for arranging the services. Local authorities may use their discretion in allocating the central government transfers they receive.

The Ministry of Education and Culture grants discretionary government transfers to public libraries for carrying out the national and regional development responsibilities, for carrying out the special tasks, and for developing their activities. In addition, the Ministry allocates an appropriation to The Finnish Supervisory Agency to be granted to public libraries for their regional and local experimenting and development activities.

Subscription subsidy for low-circulation cultural magazines and journals

The Ministry of Education and Culture allocates an annual appropriation for public libraries to use to subscribe to printed cultural magazines and journals of low circulation. The list of cultural magazines and journals, which is drawn up annually, includes publications for which the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency (formerly Arts Promotion Centre of Finland) grants a government grant or for which the Ministry of Education and the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency awards a general grant to the publisher.

All municipalities in Finland, with the exception of the Åland Islands, are eligible for subscription subsidies for cultural magazines and journals. The aid is granted to municipalities based on the number of inhabitants in the municipality.

Research libraries and other libraries

The Ministry of Education and Culture conducts annual performance negotiations with the National Archives of Finland. The accessibility library Celia and the National Repository Library are part of the National Archives of Finland.

The National Library is part of the University of Helsinki, and the Ministry of Education and Culture conducts negotiations with the University of Helsinki every four years. The funding of the library is decided in the budget as part of the funding of the University of Helsinki. The centralised services of the scientific library network are primarily maintained with funding from the National Library and the National Repository Library.

The funding of university libraries and libraries of universities of applied sciences is determined by the organisation concerned. Decisions concerning the operations of other libraries are made by the organisation to which they belong.