From the BBC:
Officials in the city of Vantaa, near Helsinki, installed the karaoke zone at Tikkurila library earlier this year as part of a scheme to provide new services at libraries,public broadcaster Yle reports.
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Locals can reserve up to two hours in the booth using their library cards, and once inside they’ll be able to choose from more than 3,000 songs, all listed on the library’s website. As well as hundreds of Finnish tunes, there’s the option to tackle foreign numbers ranging from Black Sabbath to Engelbert Humperdinck via 50 Cent and – of course – Whitney, Mariah and Celine.
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From CityLab:
Tikkurila Library clearly knows which way the wind is blowing. Since 1980, the number of Finnish pubic libraries has halved, and the tendency to consolidate many sites into larger branches makes smaller institutions particularly prone to be sidelined. By providing 3,300 songs to sing (and a suitably muffled isolation chamber in which to do so), the library is wisely pushing its role as a community meeting place.
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