The Library collections
The library's collections contain:
- Finnish and foreign research literature in the field of cultural studies
- Finnish literature and literary research
- other humanistic literature.
The publications of the Finnish Literature Society are part of the collections, irrespective of subject.
Cultural research collections
The collections contain Finnish and international scholarly literature on research in the fields of cultural studies:
- folkloristics
- cultural anthropology
- religious studies
- ethnology
- ethnomusicology.
Literature research collections
The collections contain
- Finnish-language fiction and children's literature
- Finnish, Finland-Swedish and Finnish Sámi literature translations into other languages
- research on Finnish literature
- biographies of Finnish authors.
Special collections
The Kalevala collection
The Kalevala collection is one of the world's most complete. The collection contains
- the Finnish editions of the Kalevala
- Finnish abridgements and adaptations
- translations and abridged and adapted translations into around sixty languages.
The SKS Finna - SKS Library Search Service can be browsed for information on the Kalevala editions in Finnish and on translations.
The books in the Kalevala collection are not available for check out, but the open shelf Cultural Studies collection contains a selection of Kalevala editions in Finnish and other languages that can be borrowed.
The M6 collection
Devised by academic Matti Kuusi, M6 is an extensive collection on the use of proverbs. The collection contains standard Finnish texts, international classics and rare works from different parts of the world.
The collection is located in the folklore archives and is available during opening hours of the archives. The items are available for reading room use only.
See also The Matti Kuusi international type system of proverbs, a database which is based on this collection.
The Vanha Fennica collection
Vanha Fennica is a collection of Finnish literature published before 1810. Among other works it contains rare books by Mikael Agricola, doctoral theses from Turku Academy and personal notebooks from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The collection is available on microfilm. Some works are also available as facsimiles that can be checked out.
Translations of Finnish literature
The collection contains Finnish, Finland-Swedish and Finnish Sami literature translations into more than 70 different languages. The oldest publications are from the 1840’s.
Most Books are in open shelf collections on the first floor of the library arranged according to the language of translation. Translation anthologies and translations from Finland-Swedish and Sami into Finnish are in closed access storage.
The SKS Library Search Service can be browsed for information on translations and translation anthologies.
SKS maintains The Finnish Literature in Translation database containing references to information on Finnish, Swedish, and Sami fiction and non-fiction translations.