Creating, operating, learning and developing TOGETHER: Five years of cooperation – here we are now!

Abstract

Public libraries must provide equal services to residents everywhere in Finland. To help libraries develop, Finnish legislation provides for the national and regional development of these activities. A library with a regional development task is responsible for the development and maintenance of shared online services as well as communications and promotion of the joint activities of libraries. The nine Finnish public libraries tasked with the regional development responsibility oversee joint activities and developing the skills of library personnel within their region. They operate in four languages: Finnish, Swedish, English and Sami. National Development Services (Helsinki City Library) promote and support cooperation between libraries and produce and develop online services for the use of public libraries. All public libraries in Finland are reaping the benefits of regional development through workshops, webinars, virtual meetings, podcasts, conferences, borrowable media appliances, workplace exchange, study trips, mentoring for smaller libraries, on-the-job training and so on. There is also a nationwide learning platform in use for libraries, called Liboppi. Regional development creates possibilities for library networking in Finland and with foreign libraries. Cooperation is occurring on many levels and with numerous organizations.