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As a second example of library work with minorities: the work in the prisons in Hamburg. In the FRG in 1983 we had 166 prisons with 55,000 inmates. Most of the prisoners are men, young to middle‐aged. There is little known about their social/economic status. Most of them come from disrupted families, being brought up in educational institutions with continually changing personnel which has influenced the course of life of most prisoners. The majority have no professional training, and many of them have not even completed their school education. Very often the lack of education runs side by side with a verbal disability which reduces the chances of success in life. Problems are often settled with violence instead of being solved by discussion.

Libraries can assist atypical minority users to regain their ethnic identity, safeguard their means of livelihood and recognise their social identity. The service for Turks in the FRG is discussed in relation to levels of literacy, library holdings in Turkish and the use of a library as a centre for advice and information.