Why Helsinki's library robots aren't important 

I feel like I should apologise to Romeo and his team for the title, but I think he'd be the first to agree: the library can exist without robots. It can't exist without people.

Tom Scott 2019: "Most people can read a map or follow directions." Me: *laughs in customer service*

This is the coolest library ive ever seen. What public library has a fricken laser cutter.

as a minecraft player i can agree that librarians are important

"Why Helsinki's Library Robots Aren't Important" *sees the robot on the title card* _they are to me, goddamit_

At night when the library is closed, the robots read the books so they can learn enough about us to take over the world

It has googly eyes and that’s all it takes to win our hearts

This is what a library should aspire to be; A positive, public center of learning that aims to improve the community as a whole. Not just a place where books are collected and read.

I remember reading about how they discovered that people were way more respectful of the robots once they put the googly eyes on. They should put them on the book carriers as well. Actually, all robots should always have googly eyes.

Don't hurt the robots feelings! He's doing his very best and he's important :(

Oodi is amazing, but here in Finland we also do other delightfully experimental things with our libraries. One of the busier public health centers in Espoo (next door to Helsinki) has its children's clinic waiting room IN the children's section of the local library. Listening in on one of the frequent story times, or picking up a book or a game makes waiting for your appointment a lot more palatable for our toddler. You can just take the books you started with you after your appointment, check them out on the way and continue reading at home. Public service at its finest.

2:55 someone borrowed the Vietnamese translation of a Japanese novel, from a library in the capital of Finland.

Really appreciate you going around the world to tell important stories that no one else would have told, you are making the world a better place by it.

Thank you, Tom. As a librarian, it's nice to see someone outside of our profession actually understands us and what the library stands for.

Are the 3D Printers free to use?

A Finn here: In my opinion, Oodi's most important job is to provide services like 3D/traditional printing, photography, editing etc. to poor people who couldn't afford it otherwise.

Jeez, if England has libraries like that I would never be out of there

God I love the Finnish accent. (I kept feeling like they were just about to show me the library's hydraulic press..)

2:17 Hey that's me! :)

Libraries are one of the few places that you can go to, without the need to spend money. I find it to be an incredibly relaxing aspect of a library

I have a strange urge to move to Helsinki and spend the rest of my life in that library

"Google will bring you back, a hundred thousand answers. A librarian will bring you back the right one" - Neil Gaiman

People often forget just how highly credentialed librarians can be. Often they have at least a master degree in library sciences with concentrations in something like archival work. They also very likely have at least an undergraduate degree in a subject area. This is why they end up being such a nexus point for a university, government agency, city, or what have you.

"Information should be free to everyone" Schools and colleges: 👁️👄👁️

A library with music studios and everything? Is this heaven?

I thought Oodi was like the coolest place, but I didn’t know about the robots. Now it’s even cooler.

Helsinki's Library Robot: * exists * Tom: "You're not important!" Helsinki's Library Robot: *:(*

I'm studying abroad in Helsinki right now. I see this building whenever I go into city center. I'll have to check it out.

As a student librarian, thank you for this video. So many people these days do not know what kind of resources libraries hold. Power tools, lamination, 3D printers, DVDs, audio books you can rent through an app, resume and children care workshops, and so much more. ASK YOUR LIBRARIAN. We are always here to help and are eager to make sure you get what you're looking for

This library is like a giant chill spot. Love it!

When i was younger there was this amazing librarian at my local library that allowed us to do so many fun activities, i miss going there because I’d spend hours there looking at the 3d printer, playing games on the Xbox and wii they had, following books on drawing and going to the makers space was the best part! This video reminded me of how much fun I had growing up in a library!

When I was eight my parents signed a release allowing me to browse and check out anything I liked regardless of age restrictions. The librarians were an invaluable resource. They gently taught me how the Dewey Decimal System worked but more importantly how to cross reference information, how to find those lovely rabbitholes. I owe them a lot!

Tom: Why Helsinki's Library Robots Aren't Important Robot Librarian: Good. Now they'll never uncover our plan to take control of this facility.

this video is for Tom to justify his 30 seconds clip on in the river "i filmed the river, now what?" -Tom (probably)

Kid: Mom I'm going to the Library! Mom: Oh what a good boy reading a lot lately Kid: Hehehehe 1:40

0:02 why is that kid kicking his scooter

"Every library does have librarians" depending on your definition, that's not strictly true these days. I work in a public library, but we don't have any staff currently who are trained and qualified as librarians. Our job is still based around shelving books and at most helping customers to use computers so they can find information for themselves, because we just don't have the time, money, or qualifications to help find information for them. For that, most people still have to go to a larger, research library.

I get your point (in the title), but saying those robots are not important is like saying the cleaning staff is not important. those robots free up valuable time for the librarians and excite the public about robots, which I think is both important :)

if i had a library like that in my hometown i'd never leave. seems like it'd be a good place to hold D&D games too

Library where everyone can talk Old librarians: wait that's illegal

What an awesome space, I love that it has games and common areas, makes it feel welcoming and just a cool place to hang out. I can think of numerous other things I'd be open to cutting funding from in the US to allow every city to have this kind of library. Like insane sports stadiums, or you know, the military.

Honestly even without the robots it seems like an amazing library, what with the modernization of the concept with lounges and gaming rooms and theater etc etc, looking at this place makes it feel contemporary and not a relic of a bygone era.

About once a year I remember that I have a library card, and go to my public library and am hit with this astonishing sense of gratitude that the service is there and freely available, especially in such a remote region of rural Ireland like I'm from. The fact that it is probably a massively underused service but runs anyway just in case anyone needs it brings me a strange joy. I go find a book I like and take a book out, read it and return it on time Then I forget about that entire miraculous process until probably a year later when I remember again 😅 Amazing that, this library in Helsinki looks absolutely amazing though, a real social space!

As a librarian I can say THANK YOU Tom! Really good video, spot on. I shared it with the teachers at my uni for them to show to the students.

Somewhere in Helsinki, a library robot has an identity crisis right now.

Love the video Tom! :D Might be a bit biased though considering I am a librarian ;P But seriously though - Thanks for clarifying that libraries arent just a book deposit. Its so annoying seeing public discource about libraries when some people treat it as such. Here in Denmark we have a couple of loud folks ranting that libraries should be shut down "because theyre only have books and are outdated" - All while we're stocking up on maker-labs, VR-equipment and generally we are super interested in trying out new tech when the budget allows it. The amount of different things that are free through libraries... I mean come on, how can anybody argue against one of the largest democratic pillars in society. I hope we never see a society without free and equal access to information.

Really well done video, the ending hits hard, we need more access to knowledge and places where all people can collaborate but exponentially more expansive than it is today

It's so fun seeing one of my favourite youtubers in my home city! It's awesome!!!

As a former librarian, I'm so happy you make the distinction between access to books and free access to *knowledge*! That's what a library is all about. (Also, that conveyor belt system for checking in material makes me suuuuuper jelly)

HELSINKI HAS A PUBLIC ACCESS KITCHEN IN A LIBRARY!? SO JEALOUS

The entrance to that library is just stunning.

Its amazing to see how innovative this library is. In The Netherlands a lot of library's don't exist anymore because of government budget cuts. I'm amazed that people even can do 3d printing there. Well done Helsinki

When someone hears the word Library. They think books. But now the word Library means Arts & Literature. Good job Helsinki.

I need to googly eyes back. They're not necessarily useful in any kind of directing people to the right bookshelves but they add adorable character to the robots.

I was just writing a paper for my History of Mathematics class and asked the math librarian for some help. I now have barrels and barrels of articles and sources I would not have known to found prior. Great experience.

3:44 shoutout to the homie that dropped his jacket

That is such a cool library, integrating knowledge across many media and helping people to create...

1:36 Ei ole kyllä ensimmäinen video jolla olisin uskonut näkeväni Väyrysen vaalimukin

Torille :)

It amazes me every time I go to Finland with my partner how many library's there are ! There's nearly one in every small town and village and they are always busy and always well equipped

Place in Florida called the "Space Coast Fab Lab," I consider it the library of the future. Computer labs, printers, milling/laser machines, and 3d printers. Now that information is so easily accessed, library's are giving people, the ability to experiment with it. The librarian is still quite useful, as this video shows, as a source of knowledge, which the Fab Lab did have a few people to show you around.

But… but… but… _GOOGLY EYES_

Having lived in Helsinki, Rikhardinkatu library will always be my favourite. That and the akateeminen bit of Stockmann before they changed it.

Watching this I got inspired to use my university's library instead of using the internet. Thank you for the message about library's and librarians importance, Tom!

Don’t listen to him, you’re important boopie boi

Those little robots are adorable!! Especially the googly eyes one 😍

Tom: makes a video about something Finnish us Finns: so you have chosen views (Edit: The way this comment blew up just proves my point, we're everywhere xD)

It's lovely to see that the mir 200 is being used to help librarians. I used to work for MIR (who builds the robots) and built smaller parts for it, and it's lovely to see a wonderful use for it.

working on my thesis for M.S. forensic toxicology, and librarians/other research staff have been unbelievably helpful, glad to have libraries even if most of my sources are accessible online.

i think it shows why they ARE important: frees up librarians time to handle their real jobs, gives that library PR to gain extra funding, gives an IT guy a pet project, and also it's sorta convenient

Dude seriously why are you so damn good at making these videos? I mean, your channel is almost revolutionary I'd say, at least to me it is!

As usual, you've taken an interesting topic and made it even more interesting and informative

I really appreciate how you make so mundane things interesting around the world.

The makerspace + library combination seems really cool. Wish there were some places like that here in Germany.

I love Finland, and would love to live there. I hope I can at least visit the country for tourism some day. This video just made me love Finland even more.

Thanks for the reminder that the librarian is still important! When I was younger I often had great use of talking to the librarians to find what I needed or wanted to find. After many years of studies, that doesn't happen anymore. But of course, I have changed - not the general usefulness and value of devoted librarians!

*T* *O* *R* *I* *L* *L* *E*

Definitely gonna have to give this a look if i end up in Helsinki. I love the videos by the way Tom, they're absolutely wonderful.

1:39 look at these pure academics playing krunker and Fortnite

This is amazing never seen or heard of a library like this.

The thing I love about Tom Scott's Monday videos is that, even when they're nominally about robots, they tell stories about humans, and that's what counts.

Librarians are so important, my university has specific department librarians and then year group librarians so we can find people specifically trained in our fields of research They also give training on things like citation, research skills and other important things for university

These sorts of things get me really excited!! I work in the library field and my job would be a lot harder without the current technologies available.

as a LIS student, my heart is happy watching this. specially when you said library is about collaboration and communication!

I absolutely love the idea of public libraries being a gathering space rather than just somewhere you go to get books. Incorporating stuff like 3D design and printing, music, gaming, etc is a great way to get more people involved in all kinds of learning.

That library looks amazing! Especially beyond the robots (don’t get me wrong they’re very cool) but how the building seeks to act as a meeting place and living room catering to so many different interests, pastimes and skills. I largely stopped going to libraries because they weren’t a comfortable space to be in but this place seems like an amazing area to hang out in, alone or with friends.

I lowkey have a love for Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian people speaking english with a heavy accent - its super pleasing to the ears!!

Tom, I was about to come comment something like,"robots are the future" but you make some really good points. Thanks for another great video

Brilliant script for this, libraries are a radical concept given the history of information dissemination. And this is such a great thing to see, automation actually being used to reduce toil and help workers as it should be.

This is the kind of place i dreamt about back when i still had optimism about the future.

Tom, I really like listening to your thoughts. The way you tell them and the messages you deliver by simply speaking is so valuable. I would have loved to have a larger part of that in the video regarding librarys. What impressed me more then the automization was the fact, that the library enabled people to use so much more things like the 3d printer (or simply a kitchen) etc. In that place. Openly. Open access to such things in a world full of great stuff excluding so many people from using them and driving further innovation due to the need of economically... well, having to finance it,... thats also important and we need way more of that around the world. Only yesterday I heard the story about the idea of the 100 dollar laptop. Further.... did you already do a video on digitalization of information and the danger of losing it compared to printed books? And are prints safer compered to digital data loss? In germany every book published must be delivered to the states libraries. There are libraries with very old documents. Once in Cologne. A library just fell into the ground (different story) and another important one burned down ... containing documents not ever copied. I really like your channel. Maybe we could even meet personally... if you need a place to stay in Germany you're welcome 🤗 ...well, we have to handle that Corona thing...

1:41 the guy on the left is an absolute legend, playing Krunker

3D printing, music studio, gaming area, free-to-talk library space, even a kitchen? That's gotta be the best library I've ever heard of

Tom: *Why Helsinki’s library robots aren’t important” Me: Oh, ok then, didn’t even know this was a thing. Here we go again **clicks**

That isn't just a library; it's an entire community center! I'm awed and full of envy

Brilliant video! I didn't know we had those robots here in the library,been there a few times but never spotted one...

TBH, I haven't seen even one news piece of this, and I live in Finland...

Does Tom live anywhere? It's like he's constantly moving from country to country

Hey, thanks for coming to Finland! Hopefully you enjoyed the short river you visited in another video!

I've been to the library and it is truly amazing, If you have 2 hours, it's a real treat.