!!!Volksbüchereien

Volksbuechereien (People´s Libraries): Unlike academic  
Libraries, "Volksbuechereien" are public or private lending 
libraries. They were founded mainly by political or church 
associations from about 1870, between the two World Wars by trade 
unions, and in some cases by municipalities, e.g. in Wiener Neustadt. 
The "Workers´ Libraries" in Vienna were taken over by 
the municipality in 1934/35. After 1938, the libraries operated by 
diverse associations were replaced by a network of municipal 
libraries, which continued to exist and were expanded (open stack 
system) after 1945. Lending libraries are operated by the 
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for Instructing Children 
("Borromaeuswerk"), by trade unions and by the Chambers of 
Labour, all of which were united in a single association (Verband 
oesterreichischer Volksbibliotheken) in 1948. It operates large 
libraries (with branches and mobile units called "book 
buses") as well as small libraries complemented by 
"travelling libraries" of the federal government. In 1993 
there were 2,171 Volksbuechereien (including branches) with 
around 8,945,000 media and some 937,350 readers per year who borrowed 
14,408,230 volumes. Librarians receive training by way of courses 
organised by the Ministry for Education and by town, municipal and 
library associations. Since the 1980s, selections of audio and video 
cassettes have been increasingly available in Volksbuechereien.

!Literature
A. Pfoser, Die Wiener Staedtischen Buechereien. Zur 
Lesekultur in Oesterreich, 1994.


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