Accessibility Guidelines for Public Libraries has been updated
The updated Accessibility Guidelines for Public Libraries was published in Finnish on June 5, 2026, at the Library Days event in Oulu. The recommendation is intended for everyone working in libraries, students in the library field, and anyone interested in library accessibility. It can also be applied beyond public libraries.
The first version of the accessibility recommendation was published as early as 2016 and translated into English 2017. Awareness and understanding of accessibility and inclusivity have encouragingly improved in libraries over the past ten years. We hope that the updated guidelines will continue to support library professionals in advancing equality and taking diversity into account. One of the new aspects in the updated version is neurodiversity.
Both experienced experts and newer library professionals took part in the update work. The working group included representatives from the library services of the cities of Vantaa and Kauniainen, as well as from the following organisations: the National Archives (Celia), the Ministry of the Environment, the Culture for All Service, The Finnish Centre for Easy Language (Selkokeskus), the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities, and Q-Factory Ltd.
The Accessibility Recommendation for Public Libraries has been produced under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and it may be freely shared and used. The publication can be downloaded from The Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities website in PDF and EPUB formats in Finnish: Yleisten kirjastojen saavutettavuussuositus (directs to Kuntaliitto.fi)
The publication contains numerous links to online materials, so it works best as a digital publication. A printed version will not be produced, but the PDF version can be printed independently.
Warm thanks to all members of the working group who contributed to writing and commenting on the manuscript!
For more information about the publication, please contact Kirsi Ylänne at the Accessibility Library Celia: kirsi.ylanne@kansallisarkisto.fi.
