Terms of use and fees

Materials, services and public spaces can be used in the library in accordance with these rules.

You can get a library card by presenting an ID card with a photo and ID number, stating your address in Finland, and agreeing to follow the library's rules of use. Children under 15 need a guardian's guarantee. The owner of the card is personally (in the case of children, the guarantor) responsible for all materials borrowed with the card. In certain situations, a temporary card can be issued to the customer.

A daycare center, school, other institution or community operating in the territory of your municipality can get a community card, for which a responsible person must be appointed.

Customers of Ratamo libraries have the right to borrow from Hausjärvi, Hyvinkää, Loppi, Nurmijärvi and Riihimäki libraries with the same card. Borrowing rights are checked from the common borrower register of Ratamo libraries.

Every borrower must have a library card. The card must always be presented when borrowing material and, if necessary, when using the library's services. If necessary, the library staff can also identify the customer from a photo identification card.

Changes in contact information and the loss of the card must be reported to the library immediately. The owner of the card or the guarantor is not responsible for misuse of the card after the loss has been reported.

The most common loan periods are 28 or 14 days, depending on the type of material. There may be other loan periods depending on the library. One customer can have 100 loans (10 games) from Ratamo libraries at a time.

Statutory age limits limit the borrowing and use of video recordings, console and computer games in the library. Borrowers use library recordings and games at their own risk. The library is not responsible for any damage to the customer's devices caused by the library's recordings.

Loans can be renewed in the online library, at the library's service points or by phone. If there are no reservations about the material, the loans can be renewed five times. Billed material cannot be renewed.

Borrowed from another Ratamo library
The material can be returned to any Ratamo library. The exception to this is objects.

The loan period ends on the due date at the end of the library's opening hours. Loans returned after the due date are subject to late fees as well as reminder and collection costs in accordance with the payment practices decided by each municipality. Some libraries have a return hatch. Returning the loans to the door is the customer's own responsibility.

The late payment fee is also charged when the e-mail about the approaching due date has not arrived or when the loan renewal has not been successful in the online library due to a technical problem.

There is no charge for reserving material from your own municipality's libraries. A fee is charged for uncollected reservations. The fee does not apply to reservations made from the children's and youth department's material. A Ratamo loan, or regional loan (= reservation from other Ratamo libraries), is always subject to a fee. Materials that are not available in your own municipality's library can be ordered as interlibrary loans from other libraries. In this case, the general interlibrary loan rules are followed and an interlibrary loan fee is charged. A customer can have 50 simultaneously valid reservations (10 console game reservations). You will be notified of reservations that are to be collected by email, text message or letter.

Changes in library fees from the beginning of 2025.

The Education and Welfare Board has decided on the fees and compensation for library services at its meeting on 4 December 2024. In Riihimäki, the most significant part of the library service fees are fees agreed jointly with the Ratamo libraries, such as late fees and regional loan fees. The joint fees are agreed due to the joint library system.

The Ratamo Libraries Management Group has agreed to increase the late fee from 0,10 euros to 0,20 euros as of 1 January 2025. It was also agreed to increase the interlibrary loan fee from 7 euros to 8 euros. The fees charged for other services have not been revised in library services since 2017, even though the costs of services have increased. Service fees will increase by approximately 0,10-0,20 euros/product. For example, the A4 copy and print fee will increase from 0,30 euros to 0,40 euros.

Library fees

Late fees, reminder letter fees and reservation fees are the same in Riihimäki, Hausjärvi, Hyvinkää, Nurmijärvi and Lope libraries.
Payments from January 1, 2025:

Late fees

Late fee 0,20 €/day.
The payment is per day and no more than €5,00/loan. No late fees are charged for materials for children and young people.

The due date of the loan ends during the library's opening hours. The customer can receive an e-mail reminder of the approaching due date. However, the customer is responsible for the due dates of the loans themselves, even if the notifications from the library do not reach their destination. Some e-mails do not receive bulk messages sent by the library, but interpret them as spam. The customer is also responsible for the correctness of his contact information.

Reminder letter

1st reminder: 1 week from the due date / €2,00
2nd reminder: 3 weeks from the due date / €2,00
Invoice: 8 weeks from the due date / €5,00

A reminder for reserved material and quick loans is sent immediately the day after the due date.
The reminder letter fee also comes from materials for children and young people.

Reservation of materials

Reservations for material from the own library are free of charge. However, there will be a fee
€1,00 / uncollected reservation of your own library, also for material on the shelf at the time of reservation. Does not apply to materials for children and young people.
€2,00 / regional loans, i.e. loans ordered from other Ratamo and Kirkes libraries. The payment also comes from uncollected materials.

Long-distance loans

A long-distance loan from Finland costs €8,00.
Long-distance loan copies are invoiced according to the actual costs. Long-distance loans ordered from abroad are invoiced according to the actual costs.

A new library card to replace the old one

Adults and youth €2,00
Customers under the age of 15 are not charged for the new library card.

The borrowing right is suspended when the customer has payments of €20 or when the invoice has been sent. The invoiced material is transferred to the collection agency after the due date of the invoice. The old fees must be paid at the first loan of the year. Paid fees will not be returned to the customer.

Other payments

Photocopies

A4 – black and white €0,40, double-sided €0,80
A3 – black and white €0,70, double-sided €1,40
A4 – color copy €0,60, double-sided €1,20
A3 – color copy €1,20, double-sided €2,40

Printouts

A4 – black and white print €0,40, double-sided €0,80
A4 – color print €0,60, double-sided €1,20
A3 – color print €1,20, double-sided €2,40

Bags

Plastic bag €0,40
Paper bag €0,50
Cloth bag €3,00

Library users must handle public library materials and other property with care.

The borrower is obliged to replace lost or damaged material borrowed with his/her card. The material will be replaced with equivalent material or by paying a replacement price determined by the library. However, film recordings cannot be replaced with a new copy due to copyright reasons.

The library may collect its receivables through the courts. Disputes are handled in the district court of each library's domicile.

Paid fees will not be returned to the customer.

Public library users must behave appropriately in the library. Disturbing the library's operations and endangering safety are subject to the Public Order Act (612/2003).

The municipality may impose a temporary library-specific ban on a library user if the library user, contrary to the provisions of Section 29 of the Act on Public Libraries of 2016 January 1492/13, repeatedly and substantially disrupts the library's operations or endangers its safety or damages library property. The ban may not exceed 30 days.

Before issuing the ban, the parties must be given an opportunity to be heard. The ban can be given verbally in minor cases and otherwise in writing. The ban can be imposed by the library director or a member of the library staff authorized by him.

The library user temporarily loses his borrowing right when the invoice has been sent or when his debt balance (= unpaid overdue or other fees) is €20 or more. The borrowing right is restored when the borrowed material has been returned or replaced and the fees have been paid.

All accrued fees must be paid at the latest with the first loan of each year.

The borrower's and guarantor's information is stored in the customer register. The library has the right to register the customer's personal identification number (Data Protection Act 1050/2018 §29)

The information is used only for library services. The library is responsible for ensuring that the register complies with the laws in force at any given time. Personal data may only be disclosed to parties mentioned in the privacy policy. The privacy policy can be viewed on the municipalities' websites and in the Ratamo online library.

If necessary, the office holder in charge of the library services of each municipality decides on the application of the rules of use.

Valid from 1 January 2025.