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To apply for a library card, visit Customer Services where you will be asked to complete and sign an application form and show proof of identity. You need the library card for loans, renewals and reserving materials as well as for placing Closed Stacks item requests. The Customer Services staff deal with loans and assist with the use of the library, its collections and services.
The loan period is 28 days.
Use the library’s Selma database to renew and reserve books and to check the due dates for your loans. You can renew your loan within 28 days after the due date unless the item has other reservations. The item can be renewed multiple times during maximum 1 year period.
You can also reserve books that are out on loan. You need a library card to make reservations. When the item is returned to the library, you will be notified of its availability by e-mail. The item is held for you up to 11 opening days of the library. You can pick up the item from the Customer Service during library opening hours.
Closed Stacks items may also be requested through the Selma collection database. Due to the exceptional arrangements because of Covid-19, you can also request items from open collections. Your requests are limited to the materials available for loan.
Material is retrieved from the Closed Stacks in the morning on weekdays. When you request the material in the afternoon or evening, you can collect and borrow it on the next day after 12 o'clock. The requested material can be collected during the opening hours.
Requests of larger batches of material must be arranged for separately.
We will keep the requested Closed Stacks items at Customer Services for 11 business days.
Items on loan must be returned or loans renewed no later than the due date. We will send an e-mail reminder a few days before the loan is due.
We will send an e-mail reminder on any overdue loans. The first reminder will be sent out one day after the due date, the second after one week and the third reminder four weeks after the due date. If borrowers fail to return materials or compensate for lost materials, they will be suspended from using the Library of Parliament. The minimum compensation for any lost materials is 60 euro. If materials are not returned or compensated for, the matter may be handed over to a collection agency to finalize.
If materials on loan are required for parliamentary work, the library may request you to return the material immediately. The customer has the right to borrow the material again when it is no longer needed for parliamentary work.
The interlibrary services provide interlibrary loans and copies from its collections to other libraries. The interlibrary loans or copies are not sent directly to individual customers.
Most of the library material can be given out freely on loan. However, some of the material may only be used at the premises of the borrowing library. The interlibrary loans from the Library of Parliament are free of charge. Copies are charged according to the defined service charges.
The interlibrary services are also available for MPs, parliamentary staff, and law and social sciences researchers.
The interlibrary services obtain materials from other libraries on request, if the Library of Parliament does not stock the item. These interlibrary loans are free of charge. For customers outside the Parliament, copies are charged according to the defined service charges.