The history of the Slavic Library begins with the decree of Emperor Nicholas I, issued in 1828, which granted the library the right to receive one copy of all books, brochures, magazines, and newspapers published in the Russian Empire. Thanks to this, the Slavic Library now possesses a unique collection, including over 110,000 volumes of Russian-language printed materials published from 1828 to 1917.

In addition to Russian-language publications, the library's collection includes a significant amount of literature in Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Serbian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian, and Macedonian. Overall, the library's holdings amount to over 400,000 volumes of universal literature across almost all fields of knowledge.

Interestingly, the older generation of Finnish scholars approaches computer technology with caution. In the recently established computer room of the Slavic Library, predominantly young people work, while older scholars, according to Esko Hekkli, prefer to work exclusively with books.

The Slavic Library, which is part of the National Library of Finland, was originally formed as the Russian Library within the University Library of Turku. In 1827, it moved to Helsingfors (now Helsinki). At that time, Finland was part of the Russian Empire, so the library received one free copy of all printed materials published in Russia each year.

The library's collections were also supplemented by donations, purchases, and gifts. Among the most significant donors were scholar Yakov Grot and Pavel Alexandrov, the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. Today, the library's holdings number around 450,000 volumes, including books from the personal library of Mikhail Lomonosov with his annotations, the 1615 edition of "Kazanie dvoe" by Leontiy Karpovich, "Zertcalo bogosloviya" by Kirill Tranquillion from 1618, and others.