The Library Navigator is an AI chatbot that sits on your library website next to the OPAC. Patrons use it to ask about opening hours and borrowing rules, check their loans and due dates, and get book recommendations. It works at any hour, in their own language.
The Kyyti libraries have used it since 2 March 2026, serving 165,000 residents. Made in Finland, built for public libraries anywhere.
EU or US data hosting (fully sovereign setups on request)
Works with Koha, Finna/VuFind and other major ILS platforms
(Finna-integraatio valmis)
What the library chatbot answers
Most questions that reach your desk or inbox are already answered somewhere on your website: opening hours, borrowing rules, events, how to use e-resources, what a status message means. Navigator answers from your own policies, FAQs and web pages, so its answers match what your library says.
Library chatbot features
General helpdesk
Answers from your website, policies and FAQs
Live opening hours and event schedules via API
Explains services and common tasks step by step
Links to forms, such as feedback and purchase suggestions
Replies in the patron’s language
Account services
Loan status, due dates and whether a loan can be renewed
Reminders before the due date
Overdue alerts with next steps
Guided renewals and holds, with links to the right page
Book, film and music recommendations
Suggestions based on loan history, with the patron’s consent
Suggestions from conversation alone, for patrons who don’t share their history
Live availability and shelf location
Cover images and direct links to catalogue records
Matches mood and pacing as well as genre
A multilingual library chatbot
Patrons can write in Finnish, English, Swedish, Russian, Somali or Ukrainian, and Navigator replies in the same language. You don’t have to keep a separate English site or translate your FAQ. That makes a real difference for new residents and anyone more at ease in their first language.
In daily use across the Kyyti libraries
Kyyti has run our chatbot since late 2024, and the current Navigator version went live in March 2026. Its answers come from the library’s own content. It has a security-first architecture and is GDPR compliant.
AI book recommendations based on what patrons read
With the patron’s permission, Navigator reads their loan history and learns their taste: the authors, moods and pacing they keep coming back to. It can tell “I liked that thriller” apart from “something with the same atmosphere, but slower”.
Ask for “a quiet philosophical novel about loneliness in winter” and you get a suggestion like this one. An OPAC search can’t handle a request like that.
Example: from loan history to a recommendation
A transcript of the video below:
Your reading profile reveals an eclectic taste that spans cozy fantasy, literary fiction, psychological thrillers, and travel guides—with a particular interest in Austria right now! You balance lighter reads like Jenny Colgan’s comfort fiction with more challenging works from authors like Rachel Kushner and Édouard Louis, and you’re drawn to both contemporary issues and escapist storytelling.
Given your love of Kirjakauppoja ja kirouksia—that gentle fantasy where a bookshop becomes a refuge—I think you’ll be enchanted by Piranesi, though it takes a very different approach to wonder.
[A 200 words book description follows]
This is perfect for readers who appreciate atmospheric, literary fantasy that trusts its audience. It’s short (under 250 pages), immersive, and deeply moving—the kind of book that lingers long after you’ve turned the final page. After your Austria travel guides, you might especially appreciate the House’s architecture, which becomes a character in its own right.
Available at: Haminan pääkirjasto, Iitin kirjasto, Karhuvuoren kirjasto, Kotkan pääkirjasto, Korian kirjasto, Myllykosken kirjasto, Kouvolan pääkirjasto, Kuusankosken kirjasto
Place a hold on FINNA
Get another recommendation?
The library chatbot in action
“Lainaushistoriasi paljastaa monipuolisen maun! Näen paljon kotimaista nykykirjallisuutta (Satu Rämö, Enni Mustonen, Virpi Hämeen-Anttila), lämpimiä tarinoita (Jenny Colgan), pohjoismaista jännitystä (Ragnar Jónasson) sekä lastenkirjoja (Ella, Heinähattu & Vilttitossu). Tykkäät selvästi tunnelmallisista, ihmisläheisistä tarinoista, joissa on ripaus nostalgiaa tai pohjoista tunnelmaa.
Ehdotan sinulle ‘Talvipalatsi’ – Eva Frantzin uutuusromaani, joka yhdistää historiallisen kerronnan, vahvat naishahmot ja koskettavan tarinan. Se sopii täydellisesti makuusi!
Huomaan, että sinulla on tällä hetkellä 8 lainaa – ja osa niistä on jo erääntynyt (vanhin eräpäivä oli 11.9.). Voit tarkistaa lainat ja uusia ne tarvittaessa Finna-tilisi kautta.”
— Oikea keskustelu Kyytin kirjastoista
In English: “Your loan history shows varied taste: contemporary Finnish fiction, warm stories like Jenny Colgan’s, Nordic crime… I suggest Talvipalatsi, Eva Frantz’s new novel. I also notice you have 8 loans, and some are overdue. You can renew them in your Finna account.” A real conversation from the Kyyti libraries.
Every recommendation shows live availability and a cover image, and links straight to the catalogue record. Patrons who prefer not to share their loan history can describe what they’re in the mood for and still get suggestions.
Getting the back catalogue borrowed
New releases don’t need help, as the hold queues show. The harder job is the thousands of good books already on your shelves: the ones librarians loved five years ago, last decade’s award winners, the titles that never found their readers.
Navigator recommends on taste rather than popularity, so its suggestions include older titles that are on the shelf today with no queue.
Privacy and GDPR
Navigator now has several privacy settings, from minimal logging with no personal data kept up to stricter modes for the most cautious data protection officer.
Privacy concerns have held some libraries back, and we’ve improved the product after each of those conversations.
Current setup
Your library remains the data controller
Full GDPR compliance support
All data stays in the EU
Encrypted in transit and at rest
No AI training on conversations
Under the EU AI Act, Navigator is a limited-risk system. It has to tell users they are talking to an AI, which it does. The stricter high-risk rules don’t apply because it helps patrons and makes no decisions about them.
From Library Helpdesk to Navigator
Navigator grew out of the Library Helpdesk we launched with Kyyti in late 2024.
The new version adds book recommendations and deeper account integration, and it’s faster. Voice interaction is next on the roadmap.
Kotka uses the chatbot to take pressure off live services outside opening hours. Vainio also finds it reassuring that the system runs in a secure, internal environment rather than “somewhere vaguely on the internet”. Read the interview with Mikko Vainio in Kirjastolehti.
About Biblioworks.ai
We’re a Finnish team with more than 60 years of combined experience in library systems and IT. We build AI for public libraries on open-source foundations, with privacy designed in from the start, and we develop new features with our pilot libraries.
See it running on real library data
Book a 30-minute demo. We’ll show Navigator working with real library data, go through your setup and GDPR questions, and outline what a pilot would look like.
Or try it yourself on the Kyyti library site: ask us for the login of our test patron, A.I. Virtanen.
A library chatbot handles the questions that otherwise queue at your desk: opening hours, borrowing rules, “what does this status mean?” It’s available 24/7, speaks multiple languages, and frees staff for the work that requires human judgment.
Which languages does the chatbot speak?
Navigator answers in the language the patron writes in, including Finnish, English, Swedish, Russian, Somali and Ukrainian.
What’s included in the subscription?
Setup, hosting, maintenance, updates, and Premium AI model costs. We also provide a control panel for usage statistics and support for knowledge base updates. Contact us for a quote.
Can Navigator run as a kiosk inside our branches?
Yes. We offer a standalone kiosk option: a touchscreen unit running Navigator in a walk-up mode for use inside libraries, in anonymous (i.e. not logged-in) mode. It shares the same backend as the web version, so a branch deployment costs much less than building something separate. Available as an add-on to any subscription; talk to us about hardware and configuration.
Are there usage limits?
No. Patron use is unlimited and included in the annual subscription, with no message quotas or extra charges, subject to a generous fair-use policy.
Does the AI train on our patrons’ conversations?
No. We use the AI model via API under terms that explicitly prohibit using conversation data for training. Your patrons’ conversations stay private and are never used to improve the underlying model.
We don’t use Koha or Finna. Can you still work with us?
Yes. Navigator is designed to integrate with major ILS and discovery platforms. We’ll need to discuss your specific setup, but we’ve built the system to be adaptable. Book a demo and we can talk through what integration would look like for you.
How much IT involvement do we need for setup?
Minimal. We handle the technical work. From your side, we typically need: a list of your knowledge base materials (website URLs, FAQs, policies), a module setup in your OPAC, and an API user account in your ILS. Our Finna/VuFind integration is already in the main codebase.
Can our librarians see what patrons are asking?
Yes. Appointed staff get access to a control panel with conversation logs and aggregated statistics: what topics patrons ask about, where they get stuck, which questions come up most. This helps you improve services and spot gaps in your website content. Privacy settings determine the level of detail available.
How long does setup take?
Typically a few weeks from signed agreement to live service.
Is Navigator the same for every library, or is it customised?
Every Navigator deployment is tailored to your library. The knowledge base uses your policies, FAQs and website, so branch names, opening hours and borrowing rules are your own.
You can also set the interface colours, the welcome message, and how warm or formal the bot sounds. We configure it to feel like part of your team.
