The Library of the Labour Movement (Työväenliikkeen kirjasto in Finnish) is a multidisciplinary special library in Helsinki, Finland. The library’s diverse collection is open for everyone and broadly focuses on working life, labour movement, trade unions, working-class culture, and social history.
- Printed collections are catalogued into the Helka database and Finna.
- Digitised material can be found in the Helda digital archive or in Finna.
The history of the library
The central mission of the library is to serve as a research library focused on working class history and culture. The library opened its doors on the 8th of March 1987, in Hakaniemi, next door to the Helsinki Workers’ House, and moved to its current location in Sörnäinen in 2010.
The initial collection was formed from the donated libraries of both Labour Archives (Työväen Arkisto) and the Peoples’ Archives (Kansan Arkisto). Over the years, the collection has grown not only from new acquisitions, but also from further donations. Historically, various workers’ associations, trade unions, cultural associations and folk high schools ran their own libraries, many of which have ended up in the Library of the Labour Movement collections.
The library joined the Helka-database, managed by the University of Helsinki Library, in 2001. In 2014, we started storing digital material in the Helda open repository, also managed by the University of Helsinki Library.
The library contributes its catalogued data also to the National Metadata Repository Melinda and the Finna.fi search service.
The library promotes multidisciplinary labour research and participates in publishing the Finnish Labour Studies Yearbook.