Welcome to the Library

A barcoded library card from any Finnish university library or a student card from any other Finnish university can also be used, it just needs to be activated in the library before use.

A library card is personal. You, as the card holder, are responsible for all material borrowed with the card and must agree to comply with the rules and regulations of the library.

>> Library card application

If you lose your library card, please inform us as soon as possible at library@utu.fi.

Signing into the Volter database

• Turku University students and personnel sign in with an utu user-ID and password
• other patrons sign in with their library card number and Volter password which can be set and reset at the sign in

PIN code for self-check machines

For self-check machines you need a four-digit PIN code. You must set and reset the PIN code yourself at the 'My account' page in the Volter database.

Turku University students and personnel

Addresses of Turku University students and personnel will update automatically from the university databank to library's database.

Turku University student

• Update your address in Peppi System.

Turku University personnel

• Instructions for change of address in intranet.

Other patrons

• Sign in to Volter database with your library card number and password.
• Change your address on Personal details tab.

In addition to physical library card Turku University students and personnel can activate an e-library card on their mobile phone using Volter. 

E-library card is an electronic version of your physical card and you can use it on the self-check machines to check out printed materials. When visiting customer service, you need a physical library card or an identity card for personal identification reasons.

How to get the e-library card?

If you already have a library card

• Sign in to Volter “I have a UTU account”
• Click My account > personal details
• Click your library card number after text “Library card as an image for the self check machine”
• Barcode will open in the browser and the e-library card is ready to use.

If you do not have a library card

• Order a library card via Library Card Application. 
• Pick up your card at the customer service of the library of your choice.
• You can active the e-library card (see instruction “If you already have a library card”).

Loan periods vary by library and resources

The most common loan periods            
•    course books 14 days
•    books 28 days
•    journals 14 days
•    If you are print disabled, you are entitled to an extended loan period on 14-day course book loans

Coursebook overnight and weekend loans
•    can be borrowed three hours before library's closing time
•    must be returned by 10 am next weekday to the library from where it was borrowed (by 11 am in Teacher Education Library in Rauma)
•    overnight and weekend coursebook loans can be borrowed during the day for three hours
•    no renewals

Information on loan periods of laptops, tablets and calculators can be found on Library premises and devices page

Almost all of the material that is available on the shelves of the Turku University Library can be loaned out of the library. Exceptions to these are e.g. theses, microfilms, handbooks, some dictionaries and current year's journals. You can use them in the library premises or copy, scan and photograph them to use later.

There are some restrictions in borrowing from the legal deposit collection stored in the library’s closed collections. Fiction, valuable historical books, school textbooks, magazines, or ephemera (ads, posters, calendars, sheet music, etc.) cannot be loaned out of the library. However, you can use and copy, scan and photograph them in the library premises. Please note that there may be restrictions in copying old and valuable books, though taking photos of the pages is allowed.

If an item is a textbook at a university course, the copy in the legal deposit collection cannot be borrowed. Of course, copies of these textbooks are added into the course book collection where you can borrow them.

Library loans are your responsibility but we will notify you by email of the approaching due date of your loans and of loans that are already overdue.

Remember to check the due dates of your loans in the Volter database.

Overdue fees must be paid even if the emails and letters do not reach you due to an incorrect address or, for example, email failures.

You can see the last return date of your loans from your own information in the Volter database. Loans must be returned on the due date before the closing of the library, which the borrowed material belongs to. If you return your loans to the return box outside the library, the loans will be registered as returned on the next opening day of the library. If the library material is not returned or renewed within 28 days of the due date, your borrowing rights will be suspended.

The overdue fees always start accumulating after the owning library of the loan has closed on the due date and the loans have not been returned. Overdue fees accumulate according to the library's pricelist. If you have over 10 euros of unpaid fees, your borrowing rights will be suspended. The suspension of borrowing rights is in effect in all library units of the University of Turku and the automatic loan renewal is also suspended. The borrowing rights will be restored after the loans are returned and/or overdue fees are paid.

Fees

Overdue fees accumulate according to the library's pricelist. If you have over 10 euros of unpaid fees, your borrowing rights will be suspended. A suspension of borrowing rights is in effect in all library units of the University of Turku.

Suspension of borrowing rights also occurs when

• a loan is 28 days overdue
• a coursebook is 14 days overdue
• an overnight and weekend loan item is overdue

Borrowing rights will be restored after the loans are returned and/or overdue fees are paid

Accrued fees can be paid

• with a debit card and most common credit cards (Feeniks Library, Educarium Library, Teutori Library, the Turku School of Economics Library and Library of Cultural Production and Landscape Studies in Pori)
• in Rauma Teacher Education Library you can pay with cash or credit/debit card

The library charges a fee for lost or damaged items and for sending an invoice. If a customer has already compensated an item, the library is not obligated to recompense, if the customer returns the item later.

The electronic resources are available in the network of Turku University or through remote access. Remote access requires UTU user ID and password. A library card is not needed to access e-resources.

• Open University students, please instructions at Registration and Student Services at the Open University page
• Walk-in customers
  • The walk-in access allows all library customers to use most of the e-resources of the Turku University Library.  Access to these electronic resources is available via dedicated computers where you can use, print and/or save e-resources of the library without logging in. The walk-in access is provided by most of the Finnish academic libraries.
  • A student of the University of Turku can, for example, go to the Åbo Akademi Library and use, print and/or save e-resources of the library without logging in.
• Guides about electronic resources
  • E-books
  • Terms of Use for E-Resources
  • E-books - a guide for teachers

In addition to the libraries located on the Turku campus, the Volter database also contains material from the Library of the Teacher Education Institute in Rauma, as well as from the Pori University Library's Library on Cultural Production and Landscape Research and the School of Economics in Pori.

Availability and accessibility are an important part of the services of Turku University Library

• Print-disabled students have the right to an extended loan period for course books (14-day loans). The first loan period of the course book is 3 weeks.
• Book-fetching services are available if you have a physical disability. You can request books to be delivered to a library of your choice.
• 24/7 electronic resources.
• Free Celia service for print-disabled students.

Find out more on library's Availability and Accessibility pages.

All library items can be reserved in the same way whether they are on loan, in a closed collection or on the library shelf except for course books, which can only be reserved when they are on loan. Reservations are free of charge.

To reserve an item, log in to Volter-database

• Turku University students and personnel log in with utu user-ID and password
• other patrons log in with library card number and Volter password, which can be set and rest at the log in

You will receive an email notice when your reservation is ready for pick up from the library the book belongs to. The collecting period for course books is 3 working days, for other books 5 working days.

Reservations from closed collections are collected daily on weekdays and they are available next weekday after your request at 12 o´clock. Reservations from Feeniks Library's remote stacks are collected on Thursdays.

Reservations are on self-service shelves according to your request ID which begins with your initials. Your request ID remains the same for all your reservations and it can only be found on the pick up notice letter, not at My Account in Volter.

However, if you need to reserve a book from another campus (Rauma, Pori, Turku) you need to contact Interlibrary Services kaukopalvelu@utu.fi. This service is free of charge.

Instructions to reserve libraries' group study rooms and devices

Newspapers and ephemera materials are located at Turku University Library’s Newspaper and Ephemera Services in Raisio. The resources can be accessed by making a storage request.

Pricelist of services

Request form for libraries

​Based on the Rector’s decision the University of Turku has introduced an invoice fee of 15€ (alv 0%) for small sales. The amount of the additional fee depends on the expences caused by invoicing and it will be revised annually. The small invoice fee is added to invoices under 100 e (without taxes). The interlibrary services of the Turku University Library invoices customers biannually/annually.

Interlibrary services are located in Feeniks Library.

Postal address:
Turku University Library / Interlibrary services
FI-20014 UNIVERSITY OF TURKU
FINLAND

Restrictions on interlibrary loans ordered from the University of Turku Library

• The loans can be renewed up to 10 times.
• Some of the publications such as Fennica collection sent as interlibrary loans can only be used in a reading room.
• Course books are sent as interlibrary loans only for students of University of Turku.
• Theses (master’s theses etc.) sent as interlibrary loans are for reading room use only.
• Theses (master’s theses etc.) are not supplied abroad.
• Copies of electronic material can be sent if the licence conditions allow it.
• Journals: the Fennica collection lends journals for reading room use depending on their condition and the date of publication.
• Newspapers are not available for interlibrary loans.

Requests

• Interlibrary request form
• email kaukopalvelu@utu.fi

E-invoicing of Turku University Library

• OVT-tunnus: 003702458963
• Y-tunnus: 0245896-3
• e-invoicing operator: OpusCapita Group Oy
• operator brokerage code: 003710948874
• If you are not able to submit e-invoices, you will be asked to submit the invoices to: University of Turku, PO Box 7245, 01051 LASKUT.
• for invoice reference: library / long distance service
• copies of the interlibrary requests in question

Pricelist of interlibrary services

There are many libraries in Turku, so the material you are looking for can be found surprisingly close. The use of electronic materials is often possible as a walk-in customer. Check the availability of each library's own database:

Åbo Akademi University Library database

Turku University of Appied Sciences database

Turku City Library database

Migration institute

Turun normaalikoulu

Many organizations have repositories where publications are openly available to anyone. Learn about the different ways to find parallel publishing and freely accessible open access articles in the Open Access Guide:

How to Find Open Access Resources Guide