A comparison of the Slovenian public librarianship based on the data of the Libecon study

Abstract

AbstractFocusing on economic aspects, the article compares the current state of librarianship in Slovenia to the average situation in the 15 old EU members and to the average situation in the 10 new EU members. Our data derive from the Libecon study for the year of 2001, as well as from other sources. Though acknowledging the larger number of visits and loans in Slovenian libraries, it is shown that at 1.2 per 1.000 inhabitants, the number of staff in Slovenian libraries is nearly twice as high as in the old EU members. The article further shows that in Slovenia, as elsewhere, staff costs represent the largest part in the total library expenditure, but that the structure of staff by library type deviates from the EU average. Based on the selected indicators, Slovenian public libraries rank from sixth to eighth place. The article concludes that for a comparable standard of public libraries, which is very high, the per capita costs in Slovenia are, relative to the GDP, twice as high as in the old EU countries.