Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awards Helsinki City Library with first annual Access to Learning Award

CHICAGO -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that the Helsinki City Library has been awarded the first annual Access to Learning Award for its outstanding practices in increasing access for all people to computers and the Internet.

"The Helsinki City Library is setting new standards for providing access to technology for all people. Its groundbreaking programs provide both inspiration and education to libraries worldwide as we all work to reduce the technology divide," said Patty Stonesifer, Co-Chair & President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We are pleased to present the Helsinki City Library with this award and with the opportunity to share its innovative work with other members of the library community."

The award includes a $1 million grant, which will allow the Helsinki City Library to develop new initiatives to expand existing public services.

"This award means we can improve our current services and reach even more people," said Maija Berndtson, Director of the Helsinki City Library. "We appreciate that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given us the opportunity to share our experience with members of the global library community. This begins a conversation that will help all of us achieve the common goal of providing increased access to technology for patrons worldwide."

The Helsinki City Library provides its patrons with access to technology through innovative programs and services such as:

· Cable Book Library: Located in the center of Helsinki near major transportation stations, shopping centers, museums and the Parliament, the Cable Book Library consists of 22 computer terminals that provide free Internet access. Patrons can sign up for one-hour timeslots, or utilize one of the "walk-up" terminals to conduct quick searches. The Cable Book Library is open six days a week, between six to 12 hours per day. To facilitate increased access to technology in other areas of the country, library staff members in Helsinki share their Cable Book Library experiences with professional colleagues throughout Finland.

· Workstations for special needs: Workstations for the visually impaired and services for multilingual patrons are offered throughout Helsinki. While the majority of patrons speak Finnish, the Helsinki City Library provides publications, Web sites and card catalogs in the second official language, Swedish, as well as in English.

Numerous workstations and training opportunities: At the end of 1999, there were nearly 180 computer workstations in operation, located in the main library, 38 branch libraries, 18 institutional libraries and two mobile libraries. In addition, the library staff has trained more than 880 patrons on computer use and information retrieval.

"Libraries are the intellectual infrastructure of a country," Stonesifer added. "They are as important as a city's physical infrastructure and deserve as much investment as our roads and bridges. We applaud the Helsinki City Library for its commitment and investment, and see it as a model for other countries seeking to make libraries and public access to digital information a priority."

The Helsinki City Library will use its grant to further the development of these and other information services in its community. The major project will be the creation of a portable information service unit called the Information Gas Station.

The Information Gas Station will allow patrons to ask questions that will be fielded by librarians throughout the city. It also will establish a portal of Finnish fiction, develop a user-friendly interface for information retrieval, and will continue development of a multicultural library by offering an up-to-date calendar of upcoming ethnic events. The Information Gas Station will be located at the Cable Book Library, but will use resources and serve patrons throughout Helsinki.

Additional plans call for discussions about how to bring even more technological advances to patrons. More specifically, there is a proposal to host a conference of library leaders and architects to discuss how technology affects the creation of new "intellectual libraries," and to bring together the Helsinki library community—librarians and community partners —for a celebration of their accomplishments and a presentation on how these works may be continued and improved in the future.

The Foundation chose the Helsinki City Library through a selection process involving an anonymous committee of distinguished members of the international library community. These members were critical advisers to the Foundation on the identification and nomination of potential award recipients.