Interlibrary loans for libraries
Åbo Akademi University Library provides interlibrary loan services to other libraries both within Finland and internationally.
Through our service points in Turku and Vaasa, we offer access to materials from our own collections for research and informational purposes.
Please note that certain types of materials—such as course books, reference works, and special collections—are subject to specific lending conditions.
To facilitate processing, we kindly ask that requests be directed to the appropriate location and include all necessary billing information.
Our interlibrary loan service is subject to a fee according to the current price list and is invoiced quarterly. For requests from outside Finland, we prefer payment via IFLA vouchers.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with our terms and procedures below.
Request an Interlibrary Loan
Åbo Akademi University Library has service points in two locations: Turku and Vaasa.
Please use the Alma-Finna search service to locate the material and determine its location.
Requests can be submitted via the order form or by email:
Turku: ill@abo.fi
Vaasa: ill-vasa@abo.fi
If placing a request via email, please ensure it is sent to the correct location.
Email requests should include the following information:
- Details of the material being requested
- Postal address (including mobile phone number)
- Billing address
- Invoice reference
- Order number/reference
Lending times
- Lending times:
- 28 days for regular loans and reading room loans
- 14 days for course books
- All loans are renewed automatically every 28/14 days until the maximum allowed loan period has been reached.
- The maximum loan period is:
- 1 year for regular books
- 6 months for course books
- 3 months for reading room loans
- Loans do not need to be renewed manually.
- You will receive a courtesy notice via e-mail three days before the due date, when this notice is sent it means that the loan can no longer be renewed.
Course books and interlibrary loans
Åbo Akademi University Library has chosen to make course books available for interlibrary loan.
Please note that course books are subject to different lending rules than standard loans:
- Loan period for course books: 14 days
- Automatic renewals: Up to 6 months
- Availability: If only a limited number of copies of a course book are available, it will be loaned via interlibrary loan only if the requester is a student at Åbo Akademi.
- Reservations: Loaned course books cannot be reserved for interlibrary loan, except by Åbo Akademi students, for whom reservations are permitted.
Loan Restrictions
The following items are not issued as interlibrary loans:
- Bibliographies, encyclopedias and reference works.
- Works that belong to reference or special collections (e.g., TF Exeg. 5).
- Works that are old, valuable, rare, or in poor condition.
- Original newspapers and journals published within the last 10 years.
- Textbooks, if a course is ongoing or if there are only two copies available.
The following items are sent only as reading room loans:
- Works that belong to certain collections (e.g., materials from the medieval history and maritime history collections).
- Finland-Swedish material that exists in only one copy.
- Journals.
- Swedish-language ephemera.
- Master’s theses and diploma works.
- Microfilms of newspapers.
Return Address
Return address for items borrowed from our Turku branches:
Åbo Akademi University Library
Interlibrary loans
Tuomiokirkonkatu 2-4
FI-20500 TURKU
FINLAND
Phone no. +358503473454 (for shipping only, Turku)
Return address for items borrowed from our branch in Vaasa, Academill library:
Åbo Akademi University Library in Vaasa, Academill Library
Strandgatan 2
65100 VASA
FINLAND
Phone no. for shipping only (Vaasa): +358 505227198