• Hermanni library branch 1908
• Vallila library branch 1927
• New library building 1991
   
  A Hundred years of library in Vallila - Story and video (fin)

It all began from the Hermanni library branch

The library of Vallila was opened on the 10th September 1908, at Itäinen viertotie. The Hermanni branch was the first library branch in Helsinki: prior to this there were only the big libraries of the central city area (libraries at Rikhardinkatu, Töölö and Kallio). The library had a borrowing department, a book storage room and two reading rooms.

The library was open every day except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You could borrow books from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the afternoons. The reading rooms had longer opening hours: from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

 
You had to pay a borrowing fee 
In the first year of its operation, the library had 1,300 books. The average number of books borrowed was 10 a day in the first year, and you had to pay a borrowing fee: you could borrow material on the basis of a single loan fee, a monthly fee or a 6 month fee. Prices ranged from 5 to 55 pence. The library also subscribed to newspapers and magazines.
 
In the 1920’s, construction in Vallila was fast and the amount of inhabitants and library customers increased. This led to an increasing lack of space in the library. This problem was resolved at the end of the decade with the opening of new premises. 

The Vallila library branch

On May 1927, the library moved to new premises next to the Paavali Church (Sammatintie 2-4 or Sturenkatu 40). The new library had about 200 square metres of space at street level.

However, more room was soon needed, and by 1933 the library was extended by renting the adjacent premises. The library operated in these premises for over 60 years, apart from the end of the Continuation War when the library house was bombed and the library had to be evacuated to Käpylä.

The new library building is a valuable architectural sight

The new library of Vallila was opened in 1991. The library and the day-care centre Runo share an inner yard and form a closed quarter together with terraced houses that were built later. The terraced houses were built in 2004.

The new building solved the lack of space, created an architecturally valuable public space for the district and enriched the traditional milieu of Vallila. In his building, Juha Leiviskä strived for "modest monumentality” and for creating spaces that are intimate but dignified. Typical of Leiviskä’s work, the library (and the whole building) is closed to the street, opening up to the inner yard. The building is higher and more spacious from the inside than one would assume when looking at it from the outside.
In the new building, new information technology was also adopted: at the beginning of the 1990's, the libraries got an up-to-date borrowing and collection database and computers for library users.