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Fees and Terms of Use

User Regulations

Right of Access

Customers have access to the materials, services and public spaces of the library in accordance with the following rules and regulations:

To acquire a library card, you need to present an ID card with a photo and a social security number, declare a Finnish address as well as commit to following the library’s rules and regulations. Children under 15 years of age will need a consent by a guardian. The card owner (or the guardian) will be personally responsible for all the loans on the library card. A temporary library card can also be issued at the Library’s discretion

Local day care centres, schools and other institutions or associations may obtain an institution card, for which they will need to nominate a person in charge of the card.

Ratamo Library customers may borrow material from Hausjärvi, Hyvinkää, Loppi, Nurmijärvi and Riihimäki areas with one library card. User rights will be checked from the shared customer register.

Everyone who takes out material needs to have a library card. The card must be presented whenever borrowing material from the library or when requested when using other library services. The personnel can also accept an ID card with a photo as a means of identification.

Changes in contact information or loss of a library card must be reported immediately. After the loss is reported, the card owner or the guardian will not be held responsible for misuse of the card.

Borrowing and Returning

The most common lending periods are 28 or 14 days depending on the material type. Other library-specific lending periods are also possible. One client may have the maximum of 100 simultaneous loans on his/her card (including 10 games) from the RATAMO-libraries altogether.

Age limits determined by law restrict lending and use of visual records, console games and computer games in the library. The customer uses discs and games at his/her own risk. The library will not be responsible for the possible damage to the customer’s equipment caused by the library items.

Loans can be renewed online via the online library, at the customer service desk or by phone. Items may be renewed five times, in case there are no pending reservations for the items. You cannot renew invoiced materials.

The lending period ends on the due date when the library closes.

Overdue payments, reminder fees and debts will be collected for loans that are returned after the due date according to the payment practices set by the municipality.

Some libraries have a drop box for returns. Returns to the drop box are at the customer’s own risk.

Overdue payments will also be charged in case the due date reminder has not reached the customer’s mailbox or in case renewal via the online library has not been possible due to a technical error.

Reservation

Reservations within a municipality are free of charge. A fee will be charged for uncollected reserved materials, excluding materials reserved from the children and young people’s department.

A Ratamo loan (= a reservation from other Ratamo or Kirkes libraries) carry a charge.

You can make an interlibrary loan request for materials that are not available in Ratamo libraries’ collections. General interlibrary loan regulations will be followed, and an interlibrary loan charge will be collected.

A customer may have the maximum of 50 pending reservations (including 10 console games). Pick-up notices will be sent via email, text message or letter.

Fees

Library use is usually free of charge. However, the following services are chargeable:

  • renewing your library card
  • reserving material outside of the municipality

Each library collects charges according to town-specific rules.

Hausjärvi | Hyvinkää | Loppi | Nurmijärvi | Riihimäki

Compensating for Missing or Damaged Material

Borrowed materials must be handled with care. The customer is obliged to compensate for missing or damaged material on his/her card. The material can be compensated for with corresponding material or by paying the replacement price defined by the library. Film copies cannot be replaced with a new copy for copyright reasons.

The library may collect its receivables by juridical acts. Civil matters are handled in the district court of the library area in question.

Completed payments will not be returned to the client.

Losing User and Borrowing Rights

A person’s user rights can be temporarily denied library-specifically, if he/she repeatedly against the Public Library Act 1492/2016 causes significant disturbance for the library operations, endangering safety or damaging property. Denial of user rights may last up to 30 days.

Both parties must be heard before denying a person’s user rights. In minor cases user rights may be denied orally, otherwise in the written form. The library director or a library staff member authorized by the director may set the ban.

A library user will temporarily lose his/her borrowing rights, when borrowed material is invoiced or his/her debts reach or exceed 20 €. Borrowing rights are regained when the customer returns or compensates for the invoiced material and the charges are paid.

All accumulated payments must be paid at the latest when the customer borrows material for the first time in the beginning of each year.

Privacy Policy of the Client and Borrowing Register

Customer and guardian data are stored in the client register. The library has a right to register the client’s social security number. (The Data Protection Act 1050/2018 §29)

The data will only be used for library purposes. The library is liable for the lawfulness of the register. Personal data can only be handed over to parties mentioned in the privacy policy. The privacy policy can be examined in the libraries and in the Ratamo web library. Link to the privacy policy in Finnish (pdf, opens to a new tab)

Additional Information

The office holder in charge of the library services will decide on the application of the user regulations in each municipality.

Fees

Overdue Fees

  • 0,10 € / loan for each day exceeding the due date, maximum 5,00 € / loan
  • in addition to overdue payments a reminder fee 2,00 € / reminder
  • only reminder fees will be charged for children and youngsters’ materials 2,00 € / reminder

Reminders for overdue materials will be sent in the following way:

  • 1st reminder 1 week after the due date 2,00 €
  • immediately for materials that have a pending reservation and for quick loans 2,00 €
  • 2nd reminder 2 weeks after the previous reminder 2,00 €
  • an invoice 40 days after the previous reminder 5,00 €

Children and teens' materials

  • no overdue payments
  • a reminder fee 2,00 € / reminder

Service Fees

  • reservations within the municipality are free of charge
  • 1,00 € will be charged for uncollected reservations
  • there is no charge for uncollected children and youngsters’ materials
  • Ratamo/Kirkes loan 2,00 €
  • interlibrary loan (national) 7,00 €
  • interlibrary loan copies according to real costs
  • interlibrary loan (international) according to real costs
  • renewing a library card (for customers aged 15 and over) €2.00

Other fees are library-specific.