Status and Mission

The National Library of Finland is an independent institute of the University of Helsinki.

The status and mission of the Library are specified in Section 70 of the Universities Act. According to this act, the National Library is responsible for the storage, maintenance and accessibility of the national cultural heritage in its field of operation.

Furthermore, the mission of the National Library is to develop national services and offer them to university libraries, public libraries, libraries of universities of applied sciences (polytechnics) and specialist libraries as well as to promote national and international cooperation in the library field.

The mission of the National Library regarding the preservation of materials of cultural value is governed by the provisions of the Legal Deposit Act.