The Ljubljana City Library branch of Mobile Library is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The Library first began visiting the villages around Ljubljana on Tuesday, 15 October 1974. It has worn out three vehicles, driven 400 thousand kilometres, rented out millions of books and weaved thousands of priceless ties since.

The mobile librarianship in Ljubljana and surroundings has a long history and a branched network of stops. The Bibliobus visits up to 46 stops in a month, and has been stopping at the exactly same spot at the same time on the same day for the last 40 years. The average stop duration is one hour, which depends on the size of the settlement and the frequency of visits. Most places are visited by the bus once or twice a month in the afternoon. Recently more and more stops have been scheduled for senior citizen centres, and special vulnerable groups, such as the University Rehabilitation Institute Soča and the Ig Prison (ZPKZ IG).

Most attention is given to one of the strongest group of users in numbers, the pre-school and school children. The bus visits day-care centres in the mornings to introduce books, reading, the library and its part in the literacy process.

The current Bibliobus is the fourth vehicle of the branch. It was replaced in 2008 to offer its users electronic lending/returning records, access to email, wireless internet, and printing and photocopy service.

The visit from the Mobile Library is a central cultural event in smaller remote villages in the outskirts of the Slovenian capital.