Opened in December 2018, Central Library Oodi proved massively popular right from the start, recording one million visitors in less than four months from its opening. In 2020–2022, Oodi’s visitor numbers were negatively impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but the numbers recorded in 2023 show a clear recovery: in 2023, Oodi recorded a total of nearly 2.5 million visits, indicating an increase of 36% from 2022. The total number of loans recorded in 2023 was 519,904, indicating an increase of 24% from 2022. These numbers make Oodi the library with the most visits and the most loans in the entire Helmet area, in addition to serving as one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki city centre.
“Oodi has clearly cemented its place in Helsinki and been embraced by the people. The visitor numbers indicate that there is a major need for a place like Oodi in Helsinki. Oodi was designed taking into consideration the opinions of Helsinki residents, and we are constantly developing our services in collaboration with our customers. People get what they need out of Oodi, which is why they come back here again and again,” says Director of Oodi Anna-Maria Soininvaara.
Oodi boasts the most extensive opening hours of all the libraries in Helsinki: the library is open seven days a week, Mon–Fri from 8:00 to 21:00 and Sat–Sun from 10:00 to 20:00. In terms of visitor numbers, the busiest day of the week is Saturday, during which people come to Oodi especially to hang out. The busiest weekdays are Tuesday and Friday. The busiest time of day on both weekdays and at weekends is the afternoon.
While there is no accurate data available on the visitor demographics of Oodi, the library’s visitors are notably diverse in terms of age, sex, ethnic background, income level and educational background. Seeing as how the library serves such a diverse range of people, it is impossible to profile a typical Oodi visitor.
“The typical Oodi customer is a family with children attending a story session, a young person coming to the library to study, an expert attending a meeting, a tourist enjoying a treat at the café, a musician recording music in the studio, an immigrant learning Finnish and so on. This place fulfils hundreds of needs every day, which is what makes Oodi unique. As such, the library is well-prepared to receive its next ten million visitors as well,” Anna-Maria Soininvaara states.
