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Library of Parliament - What we do

 

What we do?

The operations of the Library of Parliament are prescribed in the Act on the Library of Parliament and the Library of Parliament rules of procedure. We abide by strict ethical guidelines, by offering reliable services and protecting the privacy of our customers.

The Library of Parliament, which comes under the aegis of the Parliamentary Office, serves the Parliament as appropriate for its field, operates as the central archive for the Parliament, as well as a public central library disseminating information on law, society and the Parliament. (Act on the Library of Parliament, 717/2000, Section 1)

Information dissemination as our core task

The Library of Parliament disseminates information on the Parliament and its activities. We provide access to documents published by the Finnish Parliament as well as the parliaments of other countries together with literature on parliaments, the parliamentary system, and representational democracy.

The Library of Parliament also provides information on legislation and the legal system, Finnish society, the European Union and international organisations. The Library maintains an extensive collection of jurisprudential materials and titles concerning many aspects of society, such as history, politics, international relations and economics.

Key figures of the Library of the Parliament 1956–2015

Year ​Staff ​Loans ​Purchased ​Collections total
​1956 ​15 ​19 928 ​  9 883 ​239 600
​1966 ​15 ​36 923 ​  6 375 ​310 300
​1979 ​30 ​34 926 ​13 486 ​420 000
​1986 ​41 ​43 847 ​13 554 ​508 400
​1998 ​58 ​65 620 ​  8 944 ​613 600
​2008 ​52 ​32 930 ​  8 087 ​549 000
​2018 ​35 ​15 316 ​  3 603 ​530 100


Detailed statistics from 2002 onwards are available in the Finnish Research Libraries Statistics Database.

Publications

The publication series of the Library of Parliament, Eduskunnan kirjaston tutkimuksia ja selvityksiä (ISSN 1237-8720), has published 10 publications since 1994. Information on the publications and their availability can be found in the Selma-database.

Annual Reports of the Library of Parliament

As provided by the rules of procedure for the Library of Parliament, the Board of the Library of Parliament issues an annual report to the Parliament on the operations of the Library. The Annual Report is discussed during the referral debate at the Plenary Session, after which it is submitted to the Education and Culture Committee, which then produces a committee report. The Education and Culture Committee will consult the Director of the Library of Parliament for an expert statement. The committee report is approved at the Plenary Session.

​Events and exhibitions

In addition to our main tasks related to information dissemination and library services, we also organise various events, such as seminars that are typically organised jointly with other organisations. The library also has an exhibition space. The exhibitions are produced either by the Library itself or by another, external producer.