Dutch library services to disadvantaged persons

Hospital libraries in the Netherlands provide a variety of services. In this paper two well-equipped hospital libraries, staffed by professionally qualified librarians, are described. Some hospital libraries rely on volunteers, supervised by professional librarians, while in others volunteers work completely on their own. Special services for elderly people are focused on persons who cannot visit the library by themselves. These services vary from visiting house-bound people to placing a small library in residential homes. Of special interest is the library work for aphasics in the Netherlands. The Section of Library Work for the Elderly, Sick and Handicapped Persons, a section of the Dutch Centre for Public Libraries and Literature (NBLC) is described.