Introduction to the Culture and Leisure Division

The Helsinki City Library consists of the following:

• 38 libraries
• two mobile libraries
• Home Library Service

The Helsinki City Library employs 450 people. Director of Library Services Katri Vänttinen manages the services.

The Helsinki City Library has four units:

• The Regional Library Services consist of 37 libraries located in different Helsinki districts. Saara Ihamäki manages the services.
• The Helsinki Central Library Oodi is the largest and newest of the City of Helsinki’s libraries. It is located in a central location in the Helsinki district of Kluuvi, near Töölönlahti Bay. Anna-Maria Soininvaara manages Oodi.
• The Library Network Services Unit is a support unit responsible for the City Library’s collection policy, acquiring library materials and managing library logistics. Together with the National Development Services Unit, the Library Network Services Unit also supports the operations of the Multilingual Library located at Pasila Library in the Helsinki district of Pasila. Virva Nousiainen-Hiiri manages the unit.
• The National Development Services Unit provides and develops network, communications and other services for all Finnish public libraries in cooperation with other libraries. The unit also promotes international operations and cooperation between libraries. Matti Sarmela manages the unit.

The City of Helsinki’s libraries are part of the Helmet network

The Helsinki City Library works in close cooperation with the City Libraries of the Cities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa. Together, they form the Helmet network(Link leads to external service). Helmet is short for ‘Helsinki Metropolitan Area Library’. Helmet libraries share many things, including a library card and a collection of roughly three million works. This allows their customers to borrow works to read, watch and listen to from other municipalities that are part of the network.
 

The Culture and Leisure Division’s Sports unit is responsible for the City of Helsinki's sports policy, sports facilities and camping site as well as organising sports. Sports Director Tarja Loikkanen manages the unit. 

The Sports unit offers: 

• 800 sports facilities
• 4,000 berths for boats
• 5,000 hectares of outdoor recreation areas
• 150 outdoor gyms
• sports courses for people of all ages

The Sports unit consists of four functions: 

The Sports Activation function is tasked with providing sports instruction, supporting civic and sports club activities, and organising events. Key customers and target groups include physically inactive or lightly active people, and groups with special needs. The function provides supervised sports and handles tasks related to supporting civic and sports club activities and events. Tuuli Salospohja manages the Sports Activation function.

Sports Activation function’s units:

• The Sports Promotion Unit is responsible for sports planning, sports projects, sports services provided in cooperation with partners, staff sports, and expertise in the field of sports.
• The Targeted Sports Services Unit is responsible for sports instruction services, sports-related guidance and organising sports events for various target groups. Targeted sports services are provided regionally by the western, northern and eastern teams.
• The Partnership Unit is in charge of the booking of sports facilities and boat berths, and the booking of schools’ sports facilities outside of school hours. In addition, the unit is responsible for supporting sports facilities and civic and sports club activities, as well as coordinating events.

The Sports Facilities function is responsible for maintaining indoor and outdoor sports facilities and the services provided in them. The target groups of the services include sports clubs, fitness athletes and competitive athletes, but also people who engage in sports and exercise to maintain personal fitness. The services are provided regionally by the eastern, western and northern regional units. Petteri Huurre  manages the Sports Facilities function.

The Recreation Services function is responsible for maintaining outdoor recreation areas, camping sites, tracks and local sports facilities. It is also responsible for the services provided in these facilities, as well as marine services. Key customers include people who engage in physical activity independently, on a recreational basis, daily or occasionally. Stefan Fröberg manages the Recreation Services function.

Sports Activation function’s units:

• The Local Sports Unit is responsible for local sports and outdoor sports facilities, outdoor tracks, ski trails, swimming beaches, winter swimming places, outdoor recreation areas and camping sites.
• The Marine Services Unit is responsible for boating, water transport, recreational islands and fishing.
• The Maintenance Unit is responsible for supporting the maintenance of sports facilities and for the building technology, transport and servicing of equipment.

The Culture Department is in charge of the City of Helsinki’s cultural policy and the culture, orchestra, museum and art museum operations. The Department is also in charge of the national and regional special tasks assigned to it. The Acting Cultural Director is Mari Männistö.

The Culture unit consists of five functions: 

• The Helsinki City Museum is responsible for the City of Helsinki’s museum services and cultural history collection, in addition to preserving the cultural environment. The Helsinki City Museum’s Acting Director is Reetta Heiskanen. 

The Helsinki City Museum operates at five locations: the City Museum (street address Aleksanterinkatu 16), Villa Hakasalmi, the Burgher’s House Museum, the Worker Housing Museum and the Tram Museum. 

• The Cultural Centres function is responsible for providing Helsinki residents with art, cultural and art education services at cultural centres. Paiju Tyrväinen manages the Cultural Centres function. 

Cultural centres: Kanneltalo, Malmitalo, Savoy Theatre, Stoa and Vuosaari House. Furthermore, The Cultural Centers function also produces cultural services for Maunula House.

• The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is responsible for the symphony orchestra operations and provides classical music services. Aleksi Malmberg is the General Manager of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. 
• The Cultural Centres and Support function manages cultural and art education services that complement the cultural services provided by the City of Helsinki. The function also prepares grants for art and culture as well as licences related to basic art education. Veikko Kunnas manages the function.

The Cultural Centres and Support function also manages two cultural centres: Annantalo and Caisa.
 

The Culture and Leisure Division’s Youth unit:

• provides cultural and recreational services in cooperation with young people
• promotes young people’s participation and inclusion in society
• provides young people with support and advice
• is responsible for youth work and the City of Helsinki's youth policy

Director of Youth Affairs Mikko Vatka manages the Youth Department. The Youth Department employs approximately 360 employees, most of whom are youth workers. The Department operates at approximately 70 locations around Helsinki. The core target group is young people aged 10 to 18.

The Department carries out youth work at youth centres and other service points, and through various projects. Additionally, the Department supports youth organisations and youth groups with grants and by other means. 

Services and units of the Youth unit: 

• The Eastern Youth Work function is responsible for youth work in the eastern and southeastern areas of Helsinki. It also supports youth organisations and youth activities. Katri Kairimo manages the Eastern Youth Work function. 
•  The Western Youth Work function is responsible for youth work in the southern and western areas of Helsinki. It also carries out youth work in Swedish. Tiina Hörkkö manages the Western Youth Work function.
•  The Northern Youth Work function is responsible for youth work in the northern and northeastern areas of Helsinki. It is also responsible developing youth work at the national level. Heidi Hållman manages the Northern Youth Work function.

The Culture and Leisure Division’s Shared Services is in charge of the Division’s administrative and support services. The Division consists five functions: Administrative Services, Personnel Services, Development and Digitalisation Services, Financial and Planning Services, and Communication and Marketing Services. 

The Director of Division’s Shared Services is Kirsti Laine-Hendolin.

Heads of the Administration’s functions: 

Administrative Services

Head of Administration Pia Uljas 

Personnel Services

Head of Personnel Eeva Oinonen

Financial and Planning Services

Head of Finance and Planning Mika Malmberg

Development and Digitalisation Services

Head of Development and Digitalisation Jussi Vehviläinen 

Communication and Marketing Services

Head of Communications and Marketing Essi Eranka