THE LIBRARIANS IN THE SPANISH PATIENTS' LIBRARIES: AN HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE PROFESSION

Abstract

Evolution of the professional profile of the people in charge of the hospital patients' libraries in Spain through the specialized bibliography. Some characteristics have been identified pointing how is their profile actually, and how it should be. They are usually volunteers with no specific training, but when the aim is to of-fer a service of good quality and to achieve the recognition by the civil service, the hospital and also the users, a professional with specific training is required. In the beginning, the ones in charge had to have a profile according to a public library librarian: regarding the collection management and the dealing with the user. Nowadays their tasks are closer to the medical libraries' librarians, especially after the Patient's Right to Information Act.