Bibliothekarischer Service für Patienten im Krankenhaus: Patientenbibliotheken im Spannungsfeld von Gesundheitspolitik und Informationsgesellschaft / Library Service for hospital patients: Patients' libraries between the conflicting priorities of health care policy and information society

The idea of supplying sick people with literature in order to support their recovery has a long tradition. The basics for a user centered work in a patients’ library are well-trained communication skills and distinct service awareness. Under which circumstances is this service provided at the beginning of the 21st century? Today patients’ libraries are faced with two main challenges: on the one hand there is the need to operate economically the hospital's budget due to the latest health care reform, on the other there are the altered requirements of people in the information age. To achieve the patients' recovery in the sense of a holistic medicine patients' libraries have to emphasise their additional benefits to the hospital's environment by improving and encouraging their public relations and by offering a broad and attractive range of media products (i.e. audio books)