Kotka library adds outdoor lockers for round-the-clock book pickup

Kotka Main Library has installed an outdoor locker where customers can collect reserved books at any time, Yle reports. The lockers remain accessible when the library is closed.

Customers can reserve material on the library’s website and choose to have it placed in the locker. The system currently has 48 compartments, with more possible if demand grows.

Library director Mikko Vainio said the main library usually has 250 to 300 reservations waiting to be collected, depending on the season. Reservations have increased in recent years, after they became free nationwide in 2017 and more people began using the service during the coronavirus pandemic.

Outdoor pickup lockers are uncommon in Finland. Uusikaupunki and Pori have reservation lockers indoors, while Kittilä plans to introduce an outdoor system in December. Kittilä’s library is operating in temporary premises without self-service access.

Kotka and Kittilä plan to share their experiences, including how the lockers and books fare in different weather. Vainio said Kotka’s high humidity could affect the books, while freezing temperatures in Kittilä could cause a book to freeze to the bottom of a locker.

Kotka Main Library has not widely promoted the new service while staff learn to use it and refine details, including English-language text on some screens. If the trial goes well, other libraries in Kotka could also get lockers.