Borrowing

How to borrow books and materials

Borrow the library materials from a self-service machine or the library customer service. In addition to a library card, you will need a personal pin code for borrowing with a self-service machine.

A personal library card must always be presented when borrowing and reserving books and materials as well as when checking the right to borrow and existing loans. The library card may not be handed over to another person.

If you forget your library card at home, you can borrow books and materials by presenting your identity card or a virtual library card to customer service.

Loan periods

Loan periods and rights of use vary by library and collection. During longer holiday periods (summer holiday and turn of the year), the due date of the loans is moved to the period after the holiday.

The material-specific loan periods are shown in the Arsca search service together with information on their availability.

As a rule, the loan periods are as follows:

• Books, plays, scores, journals and periodicals, CDs: 28 days   
• Course materials: 14 days   
• Theses at the short loan collection in Töölö Campus Library: 14 days   
• DVDs at Sörnäinen Campus Library: 14 days   

Loans from library collections are free of charge provided that the borrowed materials are returned or the loans are renewed by the due date. Users may have a maximum of 100 simultaneous loans.

Non-borrowable materials

Materials that cannot be borrowed can be used in the library. On the library premises, users may make copies (fees apply), listen to recordings and watch DVDs. It is not possible to make copies, print out materials or watch DVDs at the Kuopio library.

As a rule, non-borrowable materials include:

• Theses, reference library material (dictionaries, search books, anthologies, compiled works of composers) and the latest issues of journals and periodicals  
• Stack collections of the campus libraries 
• Töölö Campus Library DVDs  
• Returning books and materials 

Materials borrowed from Uniarts Helsinki campus libraries can be returned to either of the Helsinki campus libraries. Materials borrowed from the Kuopio Library can only be returned to the Kuopio Library.

You can return your loans either to a self-service machine or library customer service. When the library is closed, you can leave the materials to be returned in the return box while the building is open.

In Töölö, the library has return boxes both outside the library door and at the rear of the Helsinki Music Centre lobby next to the back door entrance of the Sibelius Academy. In Sörnäinen, one return box is located in the lobby of the Theatre Academy outside the glass doors of the library and the other is located inside the library next to the self-service return machines. In Kuopio, the return box is located outside the library door.

Remember to return your loans on time. Materials returned to the return box outside the library’s opening hours will be processed on the next opening day of the library. Therefore, if your loan is due and you return it to the return box after the library closes, it will not be marked as returned until the next opening day.

Renewing loans

Loans must always be renewed by the due date.

28-day loans can be kept for a maximum of 730 days. For 14-day loans, the maximum loan period is 180 days. There may be loan period exceptions for special collections.

If there is a reservation on the borrowed materials or if the total amount of the user’s overdue fees exceeds EUR 20, the loan cannot be renewed.

Loans can be renewed as a self-service by visiting the online library Arsca, using the Uniarts Helsinki Tuudo app, visiting the library or by phone. Loans cannot be renewed by e-mail. You do not need to bring the loans to the library to renew them.

Reserving materials

Users may reserve materials in Arsca or by visiting the library, but not by e-mail or telephone. Making a reservation is free of charge.

The Sörnäinen or Töölö Campus Library can be chosen as the pick-up point for Helsinki library materials. In other words, you can also reserve materials from the other Uniarts Helsinki campus library and pick up your reservation from the library of your own campus. The pick-up point for materials from the Kuopio Library is in Kuopio.

The personnel and students of Uniarts Helsinki, Savonia University of Applied Sciences and the Kuopio Conservatory may also submit a request for materials from another city to the library customer service.

A notification of arrival is sent to the user by e-mail, and the material is reserved until the date stated on the notification.

A reservation cannot be made if:

• the user already has the same publication on loan
• the user already has a reservation for that publication 
• the user has a loan ban 

Overdue fees

If the borrowed materials are not returned or renewed by the due date, the user will be charged an overdue fine in accordance with the service fee list.

An overdue fee will be charged also if the user has not received a reminder sent by the library or, for example, a technical error has prevented the renewal.

Reminders and loan ban

Reminders of loans about to expire and overdue loans are sent by email as follows:

• Reminder two days before the due date
• Notice on the due date
• Overdue notices 2, 9 and 30 days after due date

Students and personnel at Uniarts Helsinki can also receive reminders and arrival notifications in the Tuudo mobile app. Reminders and arrival notifications are not sent by letter.

A user is subject to a loan ban if:

• loans are not returned or renewed within 40 days of the due date
• the overdue fine total is EUR 20 or more. 

If the loans are more than 40 days late, a compensation invoice will be sent to the user. If the user fails to pay the invoice, it will be forwarded to a collection agency. An external collection agency is used for collection.

The loan ban will be lifted when the overdue fees that resulted in a loan ban are paid and the loans that resulted in a loan ban are returned or replaced.

You can also return the loans after the invoice has been sent or the invoice has been forwarded to the collection agency. However, remember to pay the library’s invoicing costs and any collection agency costs.

Overdue fees and invoicing charges can be paid to the library customer service or through Arsca as an online payment. If you have over EUR 20 in overdue fees, first contact the library customer service.

The replacement of materials can be paid through the library’s customer service or with the replacement invoice sent by the library.

Lost materials

Any lost or damaged materials must be replaced. The materials can be replaced either by paying the replacement price or by obtaining new, similar materials to replace the lost or damaged ones.

Please contact the library before purchasing new materials to replace lost or damaged ones.

Interlibrary loan service

The Uniarts Helsinki library can order interlibrary loans from other libraries and provides its materials for interlibrary loans to other libraries and organisations offering interlibrary loans outside the Helsinki metropolitan area.