How to get a library card
You can get a personal library card, the right to borrow and a PIN code at any HelMet library or mobile library. You will get a card, when you state your address and present a valid ID card with a photograph and personal identity number accepted by the library. To be able to receive a library card you need an address in Finland. The first library card is free of charge.
If you do not have a Finnish personal identity number, your library card is valid for six months at a time.
A person younger than 15 years of age can get a library card with a written consent of the person’s guardian or another consenting adult acting as a guarantor. The guarantor is responsible for the material that has been borrowed with the library card of a person younger than 15 years of age.
A day-care center, school, other institution or community can get a library card for one year at a time with the written consent of a consenting adult acting as a guarantor. The guarantor is responsible for the material that has been borrowed with the library card of an institution or community.
A person who has lost his/her borrowing rights cannot act as a guarantor.
The library card is personal
You are responsible for the items that have been borrowed with your library card. In order to prevent the misuse of your library card you can ask that the employee in loan services always checks the identity of the borrower. Lending by the automatic lending machine is protected with your PIN code.
A staff member of an institution or community can use the institution’s or community’s library card with the consent of the guarantor of the institution or community.
How to get the PIN code
In addition to the library card you also need a PIN code, when you wish to use the automatic lending machine, when you wish to look at what you have borrowed, to renew the loans or to reserve material in the HelMet Web Library. The PIN code is also needed for other electronic services and for the use of customer computers. You will get the PIN code in person from the library or the mobile library.
Contact information must be up-to-date!
You must notify the library without delay about the changes of your address, email address and your name. You can check your contact information on the website www.helmet.fi.
To check the information in the customer register
You have the right to check the information on you that has been entered in the library’s customer register.
You can check the information when you have proved your identity by presenting a valid ID card with a photograph and personal identity number accepted by the library.
If you are a guarantor, you have the right to check the information concerning the institution or community. As a guarantor, you have also the possibility to receive information on the overdue loans and unpaid fees of a person under 15 years of age. You can check the information when you have proved your identity by presenting a valid ID card with a photograph and personal identity number accepted by the library.
The relationship between the library and the customer is confidential
The library is responsible for the accuracy of the customer register. The personal information on the borrower and the guarantor is recorded in the common customer register of the City Libraries of Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen, and Vantaa. It is the library’s responsibility that the customer register is in accordance with the Personal Data Act.
In accordance with the Personal Data Act, the library has the right to record the customer’s personal identity number into the register. The register report is on view at the libraries and on the website www.helmet.fi