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PIKI Libraries

PIKI is a consortium of the Pirkanmaa public libraries, with members from the 22 municipalities of Pirkanmaa. PIKI Libraries have a shared material and customer database, online library, library guidelines and delivery services. All PIKI Libraries accept the same library card. As a customer of the PIKI Libraries, you can use every PIKI Library. Items can be loaned and reserved freely between PIKI Libraries.

The library card

You can obtain a PIKI library card from any library in Pirkanmaa. Your first library card is free of charge. Under 15-year-old customers will need a guardian's written approval to obtain a library card. Library card holders agree to follow . the guidelines of PIKI libraries.

The library card is personal. The card holder is responsible of the material borrowed with the library card as well as of the use of the library card number and PIN code. The guardian is responsible for material borrowed by a person under the age of 15.

You can fill the library card pre-registration form online. Forms are processed daily in the morning. You will recieve a sms when the form has been processed. You can then collect your library card from any PIKI library. You will need a valid photographic proof of identity.

If it is not possible to fill the online form you can also print and fill these forms. The forms are available also at the libraries.

Lost library card

If you lose your library card, please notify your library immediately. The library card will be suspended until you prove your identity at a library.

You can also replace a missing library card with a new one. The new card cost 2 €. When a new library card is activated, the old card will become void.

When the library card is changed into a new one, the loans and reservations in Ellibs and OverDrive e-services will not follow. The loans and reservations can be moved to the new user account at the library's customer service.

When an old library card is replaced with a new one, the old library card will still be shown in the online library's account information on the Library cards page. You can remove the old library card from the page yourself.

Electric library card

The electric library card can be found from your account information in the online library after you have signed in. There are also a few applications that include an electric library card.

PIN code

Along with the library card you will need a PIN code, if you wish to use the library’s web services, lending machines, customer computers and self-service libraries. You will get the PIN code from the library or mobile library when you present a valid ID card approved by the library.

You can change your PIN code on your Profile page if you remember your current PIN code.

If you have forgotten your PIN code, you can use the Reset your PIN code form. This service is available daily from 6:30 am to 1:30 am.

You can also visit a library or contact by phone or via chat to get a new PIN code.

Loans and renewals

The PIKI Library card is accepted in every PIKI library. Loan periods and limitations can vary depending on the library (e.g. mobile libraries). The due dates for borrowed items are shown on the receipt and your checked out items section in the online library.

The most common loan periods for library items are 14 or 28 days. Some items, such as VIP-items and season tickets, that cannot be renewed or reserved, have a loan period of 7 or 14 days. You can borrow only 10 video games at a time.

Loans must be returned during library opening hours on the due date at the latest, or they need to be renewed. You can return your loans to any PIKI Library. There are overdue charges for items returned or renewed after the due date. Online renewals must take place before midnight on the due date. Loans can be renewed up to five times, if there are no reservations on them.

Many of the PIKI Libraries have a return chute for returns. Returning materials into a return chute is at your own risk. Loans returned through a return chute are registered as returned on the next open day.

When lending audiovisual material, PIKI Libraries follow the age restrictions set by the Department for Media Education and Audiovisual Media. Library is not liable, if the borrowed recording damages the customer's media devices.

You will lose your borrowing rights in all PIKI Libraries, if you do not return your loans, avoid to pay your fees or damage library material.

Due day notices

You can have a free-of-charge notification of an upcoming due date into your email 1–5 days before the material is due. This service is available only if you provide your email address to your library or save it to your account information in the online library. The due date notification is an additional service, and if it fails to reach you due to e.g. technical difficulties, you are still responsible to return or renew your loans before the due date. You are also responsible for your overdue fees.

Reservations

You can make a reservation in the online library or the PIKI mobile application and personally at the libraryor by phone. Items available at a library can also be reserved. The reservation expires in two years after it has been made.

You will receive a pick up notice from the library, when an item you have reserved is ready to be collected at the library. You can choose, if you want the pick up notice as an e-mail, text message or a letter in the online library's account information or the library's customer service.

In some PIKI Libraries, reserved items can be collected as self-service. The pick up notice has a reservation number with which you are able to find your own reservation from the library's pick up shelf.

Normal reservations are free of charge, but if the reserved item is not collected, a fee of 1 € is charged from you. A regional reservation, which is an item reserved from another municipality's library to be transported to you own local library, costs 2 €.

Fees

Using, borrowing and reserving items at a library as well as all customer service is free of charge. All fees and compensations, except the fees already forwarded to a collection agency, can be paid at every PIKI Library.

The overdue fee will start to accumulate on the first day after the due date, and it can accumulate up to 9 € per item. The overdue fees will be visible after the loan is renewed or returned.

The overdue fees for the items from the adult's section

  • 0,30 €/ item/ calendar day (Tampere, Valkeakoski)
  • 0,20 €/ item/ calendar day (other PIKI Libraries)

The overdue fees for VIP-items

  • 0,50 €/ item/ calendar day (Tampere, Sastamala)
  • 0,20 €/ item/ calendar day (other PIKI Libraries)

Uncollected reservations and interlibrary loans are chargeable services in addition to overdue fees and compensating damaged items.

Dispatch of overdue reminders cost 1 € per reminder, not depending on whether the reminder was sent by e-mail, text message or letter. Fees for copying and printing, reserving conference rooms and other fees and charges vary between municipalities. Up-to-date information on fees and charges can be found on the websites each library.

A debt balance of 15 € or more will result in temporary suspension of borrowing rights in all PIKI Libraries.

Online payment

You can pay library fees in the Fines section.

Changing contact details

Please notify your library of any changes in your information. You can changes your address, phone number and email in the online library. You can also notify us personally at a library or by phone or via chat. A changed forename or surname must be notified personally at the library. Please take your ID with your new names with you.

Acquisition proposal

Before sending an acquisition proposal, it is advisable to check the online library or ask from your own library for the desired item. It is also advised to check if the Pirkanmaa area libraries of school institutions, academies or universities have a copy of the material in question available in their collections. The libraries try to avoid acquiring overlapping materials.

We are glad to receive acquisition proposals, but unfortunately not all of them can be fulfilled. However, basically all the latest releases of major Finnish publishing companies (WSOY, Tammi, etc.) are acquired, so you do not need to request them. All the works on the markets cannot be acquired to a library due to the copyrights. The acquisition proposal process might take long, even months.

The interlibrary services deliver items to the customer from other libraries in Finland and abroad.

You can make an acquisition proposal at your own library or by filling an online form. The forms can be found on the Libraries page.

Interlibrary loans

If you require material unavailable in PIKI Libraries, it can be requested from another library in Finland or abroad as an interlibrary loan. We recommend you to check the availability of the required item in other PIKI Libraries before leaving an interlibrary loan request. You can check the availability of the item by yourself or at the library's customer service. If the required material is available at another PIKI Library, you can make a regional reservation, with a fee of 2 € EUR per reservation.

If the item is not available in a PIKI Library, you can make an interlibrary loan request. Ebooks, e-magazines or e-newspapers, or audiovisual material from another country cannot be delivered as an interlibrary loan.

Fees for interlibrary loans

  • 4 € + the fees of the providing library. (5 € EUR at Valkeakoski, it includes the fees of the providing library.)
  • 10 € per item + the fees of the providing library for an interlibrary loan request to a library in another Nordic country.
  • The material requested from Multilingual Library in Helsinki is free of charge.
  • The fee of a copy requested via the interlibrary loan services is determined by the service fee of the requesting library and the service fee of the providing library.
  • If you request microdata as an interlibrary loan, the fee is determined by the library's service fee per archive or library and the fee given by the providing library. The fees vary depending on the requested item, and they are also charged from items requested for reading room use.

By submitting the interlibrary loan request, the customer agrees to pay any costs resulting from the loan. The payment is collected when you pick up the requested interlibrary loan. If the requested loan is not retrieved, the fee of the interlibrary loan is added to the customer's payment information. Items requested as an interlibrary loan take approximately a week to arrive to the requested library, but popular items, which have multiple reservations on them, might take even months to arrive. In order to renew your interlibrary loan, please contact your library's interlibrary services.

In order to make an interlibrary loan, please contact your own library or fill in the interlibrary service form.

Interlibrary service for libraries

Tampere City Library provides interlibrary loans free of charge for other libraries in Finland. Other PIKI Libraries provide interlibrary loans according to their discretion. Interlibrary loans from the PIKI Libraries are free of charge with the exception of Lempäälä and Virrat Library, both of which charge a fee of 10 € EUR per item from libraries outside of Pirkanmaa.

A library without a PIKI library card can make an interlibrary loan request with the interlibrary service form or by contacting the providing library.

A library with a PIKI library card can make an interlibrary reservation to the material in the collection of Tampere City Library by choosing Tampere interlibrary services as the pick-up library. When making an online interlibrary reservation from other PIKI Libraries, the pick up library is the providing library.

Loans for schools

You can find book boxes containing multiple copies of the same book, meant for the primary schools and junior high schools of Tampere, from TOKI online library. Schools in other municipalities are encouraged to ask for the services from their own library.

Accessibility

Services for persons with print disabilities

If you are not able to read a printed book due to dyslexia or other print disability, you can acquire audio books from Celia Library via the public libraries. Celia is a national center for accessible literature and publishing in Finland.

Celia's constantly growing collection contains tens of thousands of audio books for children and adults, from classics to new releases. You can listen to Celia's audio books with a computer, tablet computer or smart phone. Celia's application, Pratsam Reader, is free of charge and an easy way to listen to audio books on a mobile device. You can become a Celia Library member at your own public library.

The library provides you with login information and help with the Celia online services and its' audio books. A certificate for print disability is not required.

Home library services

Part of the PIKI Libraries provide home library services when the customer has trouble or is unable to access a public library in person due to old age, disability or illness. Ask for the services from your own library

The most common way of service is to deliver a bag of books to your home. The book bags contain anything from the library collection that you wish to borrow, and the bag is delivered approximately once a month to your home. The customers are contacted by phone.

In addition to the traditional material, libraries offer other materials as well, such as movies, music, games, musical instruments, tablet computers, sports equipment, and even VR headsets. Some of the libraries deliver a small, changing collection to institutions and supported-accommodation houses. Tampere City Library and Valkeakoski City Library also have theme kits, e.g. of local history, for the use of groups. The theme kits include objects, pictures, short stories and even smells for the use of conversation.

Plain language in libraries

Plain language is simple language. In plain language the sentences are short.

Difficult words and phrases are explained in plain language.

The libraries have a collection of books written in plain language. The collection includes fiction and non-fiction.

Well-known Finnish novels and completely new books have been written in plain language. The libraries also have books in plain English, plain Swedish and other languages.

Many libraries have their own shelf for books in plain language. Ask the library personnel, if you cannot find books in plain language!

Multilingual services

PIKI Libraries have books, movies, music, newspapers and magazines in over 80 languages. For children, there are picture books, fairy tales, movies and music. The library's collections includes material for learning Finnish. In the library, you can read newspapers and magazines from all over the world. The Pressreader service has newspapers and magazines from over 7800 countries and in 79 different languages. The service include remote access with a PIKI library card. The library personnel will help you with the use of the service and is happy to introduce the services. Ask more from your own library!

Multilingual Library offers literature to all foreign language speakers living in Finland, in their native language. In addition to books, the collection has music recordings, movies, magazines, audio books and e-books. Customers can borrow materials from Multilingual Library via their local library. Use of the Multilingual Library is free of charge.

Russian Library offers library services for the Russian speaking population and to all who are interested in the Russian language and culture. Russian Library has a collection of over 14 000 books and 1000 movies and audio books. You can find more information of the collection at the Helmet online services, which is the joint online service for the Helsinki area libraries. The interlibrary services deliver material all over Finland, and the service is free of charge. You can register as a customer of Russian Library at you own public library..

Sign Language Library

Sign Language Library is an online service owned by the Finnish Union of the Deaf. The online service has material in sign language, and some of the material has been translated into Finnish or Swedish. The library records the culture, history and language of the Finnish sign language population. The Sign Language Library's abundant collection has, for example, rhymes and fairy tales for children, games, songs interpreted in sign language and poems. The material is easy to access, and the membership does not require a registration.

Applications

The online library is fully compatible with mobile device. You can also download a separate PIKI Mobile Library app. Other library services have their own apps as well. Read more on the Applications page.