Mobile Library Visits at the “Polž” (Snail) Day-Care Center
The Maribor Public Library bibliobus stops once a month also at the “Polž” (Snail) Day-Care Center (Varstveno-delovni center Polž) in Maribor. The Center employs people with special needs (functionally and intellectually disadvantaged).
During visits at the Polž Center the bibliobus crew consists of four members; they are assisted by the Center's staff. The librarians assist the visitors with choosing suitable library material, but they also chat with them, and for many inmates of the Center the Mobile Library represents one of few contacts with the outside world. They are very fond of visiting the bibliobus every month.
The Maribor Public Library also helped the Center’s staff and inmates establish their own library. A number of books were donated and processed with the help of the Maribor Public Library and the Center's inmates were taught how to work in their library. This has become a form of work therapy and according to the experience of the Center’s staff, it has contributed significantly to a better atmosphere between inmates; they are also more confident, since now they can run their library themselves.