The story
In 1860, the large parish of Kokkola, which covers almost present-day Central Ostrobothnia, disintegrated and the parish of Veteli, which included the smaller parishes of Kaustinen, Halsua and Perho, was separated from it. Perho officially became a chapel parish five years later. Perho became an independent parish in 1879, and the first pastor took office in 1885. The first public library in the Kokkola region was established in Perho. Preacher Emanuel Snellman, locksmith Erkki Lakanen and Tuomas Taittonen were the handlers. As the former librarian of Vähäkyrö's library in the 1850s, Taittonen had made it the largest public library in the country.
From Wikipedia’s article on Perho, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5