Kuopio libraries close for a €100,000 system overhaul

All libraries in Kuopio are closed for two weeks while the city switches to a new library system, Yle reports. The change will cost the city €100,000, and the libraries are due to reopen on 4 November.

The current system is no longer being developed and cannot be used much longer, library director Päivi Peiponen said. Kuopio’s library service includes the main library, 13 branch libraries and two mobile libraries. The previous system change took place more than 10 years ago.

Customers will get a new mobile app, Aapeli, which allows them to borrow and return materials. The Finna online library will remain available. The new system will also make it possible for the library to use Suomi.fi messages from public authorities in the future.

Reservations will change: each reserved book will have its own reservation number, so customers will need to look up each reservation separately. Customers will also receive more email reminders, including prompts to return reserved items sooner. The library hopes this will help popular books circulate more quickly.

Loan periods have been extended well beyond the reopening date, so no loans will become overdue during the closure. Some customers borrowed more books than usual before the shutdown, despite the library having announced it in advance.

Staff are using the closure to learn the new system and reorganise the shelves. Some book genres will be combined, and the library will introduce a new category called “speculative fiction”, or spefi in Finnish. The new system will also be connected to self-service machines and self-service libraries.