Through rain, sleet or snow, the Emporia Public Library will deliver.
Once a month, library patrons who can’t leave their homes for whatever reason, be it age, illness, physical disability or convalescing from surgery, have the option of checking out library books that will be delivered right to their doorsteps.
The library and volunteers for its homebound delivery program operate two routes on the first Thursday of each month: one that delivers to organizations like nursing homes and care facilities and one that focuses primarily on private residences. And no matter what the weather, the books will be delivered.
For about 10 years, Dan and Janae Snyder have volunteered to make book deliveries to homebound library patrons. On a recent chilly and rainy Thursday the two loaded up the trunk of their car with bags of books to be delivered to patrons at Holiday Resort, Presbyterian Manor and various private homes.
“You call and they just put you on the list,” Janae Snyder said, describing the program in which library card-holders can call with requests for specific titles or for genres in general. “Some people have particular books they want to read, some people just ask for westerns or something like that, and they pull those books and get them ready for us.”
The Snyders unload the bags of books from their trunk at Presbyterian Manor and haul them in on a cart designated specifically for the books. Each bag is full of books for a specific reader, and the two walk the hallways looking for the rooms they will deliver to. Outside each patron’s room is another bag of books to be returned to the library.
The EPL Homebound program recently has undergone changes. The library used to deliver twice a month, but with a lack of drivers and staff to pull and organize the books, the program had to be scaled back to only once a month.
According to Rosa Lee Waterman, who coordinates the program, the library will deliver up to five books to any homebound patron who lives within the city limits. And it’s not limited to books.
“We deliver any materials that they would come to the library and get for themselves but can’t anymore,” Waterman said. This includes books, magazines, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs and interlibrary loans. Patrons also can call to reserve books if there are specific titles they want to check out.
“I have some people who I choose for,” Waterman said, “and I have some people who only want books that they ask for, so we may not deliver to them every time. I have some who put books on hold so they can get them just like a regular patron.”
To take part in the homebound program, patrons can call the library’s reference desk at 340-6450. Waterman said family members often will sign up homebound relatives, and nursing home activities directors will make arrangements for patients interested in getting books and other materials. Details of the program can be found on the library’s Web site, www.emporialibrary.org.
Those taking part in the program are issued a separate library card that will not accrue fines for late materials.
Waterman said the library needs volunteers to deliver. Currently, she said there are 12 volunteers who get rotated on the schedule.
“It’s a hard job,” she said. “It’s pretty physical.”