Children and Young Adults – Hospital Patients, Prisoners, and with Developmental Disorders – Who Cannot Come to Slovenian Public Libraries: A National Survey

Abstract

The paper presents the first national survey of public library services to three user groups in the context of children and young adults: hospital patients, prisoners, and persons with developmental disorders. The study was two-part: first the data on potential users and their characteristics was gathered. This was used to prepare the main survey of the existing public library services in Slovenia, undertaken in 2012 and 2013. The results show that of the three user groups in question, two (hospital patients and prisoners) are more localised, being the focus of individual public libraries working in the area where hospitals or prisons are located, while persons with developmental disorders are spread throughout the country and as such relevant to a larger number of libraries. The first two groups also have more potential for development, because Slovenian public libraries offer much richer services for users with developmental disorders. Nevertheless, positive trends were observed in most areas.