Are Public Libraries a Commonplace? Users from Disadvantaged Groups, Their Cultural Participation Models and an Impact of Libraries

In the article, I presented the results of the study of the social impact of Mazovian public libraries, focusing on groups of users coming from disadvantaged backgrounds – older people, people in the worse financial situation and residents of villages and small towns. Surveys were carried out in 2017 on 1098 users of 38 Mazovian public libraries (rural and urban). Based on the data I concluded that there are some differences both in the models of public libraries’ use in the analyzed groups, as well as in the range of the benefits of contact with libraries.