LIBRARY

The library of the Pori Art Museum is basically a reference library specialising in the visual arts, contemporary art in particular, but also Finnish art and art from the Satakunta region more generally. The library is open to museum visitors during the museum's opening hours. Books cannot be taken out on loan.

The library collects literature on museums, the visual arts, architecture, applied arts and photography as well as cultural history. The library also collects exhibition publications, catalogues and brochures as well as the programmes and annual reports of museums and organisations in the field of art.

The material in the library is organised following the UDC classification and in compliance with the Finnish rules for classification. The museum also maintains a collection of press cuttings, which has its own card file system. A project for entering the data from the card files to a computerised filing register was launched in 1997.

The library has about 2,711 volumes, with 150-200 new volumes added annually. In addition to books, a large part of the material in the library consists of exhibition catalogues, which currently number about 6,166.