Helsinki Central Library Oodi

The library is situated in the Kluuvi district, close to Helsinki Central Station and next to Helsinki Music Centre and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. Despite its name, the library is not the main library in the Helsinki City Library system, which is located in Pasila instead; "central" refers to its location in the city centre.

Helsinki Central Library Oodi
Helsingin keskustakirjasto Oodi Helsingfors centrumbibliotek Ode
Oodi in 2021
60°10′26″N 24°56′17″E / 60.1738°N 24.9381°E / 60.1738; 24.9381
Location	Kluuvi, Helsinki, Finland
Type	Public library
Established	5 December 2018; 5 years ago (2018-12-05)
Branch of	Helsinki City Library
Collection
Size	100,000 books
Other information
Director	Anna-Maria Soininvaara
Affiliation	HelMet
Website	www.oodihelsinki.fi/en/

A design competition in 2012 to build the library was won by the Finnish architectural firm ALA Architects and structural design by Ramboll Finland. ALA Architects won the commission over 543 other competitors. The library was planned to be a three-story building and to include a sauna (which hasn't materialised as of 2021^[update]) and a ground-floor movie theatre. In January 2015, the Helsinki City Council voted 75–8 to launch the building project. The estimated costs of the new library was €98 million, of which the state agreed to pay €30 million in connection with the centenary of Finland's independence in 2017. The City of Helsinki budgeted €66 million for the building.

On December 31, 2016, it was announced that the new library would be named Oodi in Finnish and Ode in Swedish. The name was selected from a pool of some 1,600 names proposed by the public. According to Helsinki Deputy City Director Ritva Viljanen, "Oodi" was chosen because it's easy to remember, easy to say, and easy to translate. The selection jury also did not want to name the new library after a person.

The library was built in the Töölönlahti district next to Helsinki Music Centre and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and inaugurated on 5 December 2018 on the eve of the Finnish Independence Day.

In 2019, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) named Oodi as the best Public Library of the Year.

Specially designed robots transport books to the third floor that has an 17,200-square-metre (185,000 sq ft) area designated for books. The rest of the space is designed for meetings and events.

The National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) organizes regular archival film screenings at the Kino Regina cinema, located since 2019 in the Helsinki Central Library Oodi.

• Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries
• Helsinki University Library
• National Library of Finland
• Tampere Central Library Metso
• Turku Main Library
• Seinäjoki Library