Kids & Family
Library Continues Outreach Without Mobile Library
Collections maintained at retirement communities, materials delivered in homebound program.
This week’s column was submitted by Joel Sawyer of Readers’ Services at the .
A major component of working here at the Des Plaines Public Library is interacting with the community. In most cases this consists of patrons stopping by the desk to talk about our eBook collection, or asking us for some help in locating the items they had in mind.
However, there is another avenue of connection: we can bring the library to the public through our community outreach programs. While many patrons are able to come to the library to receive the services they need, there are others who find it difficult to do so. To accommodate them we have the deposit collection and homebound programs.
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Even though the Des Plaines Mobile Library program was discontinued at the end of last year, we are still committed in our effort to bring the library to our community in other channels.
Earlier: Library launches coupon club.
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One of the highlights of my job is maintaining collections for the residents of two assisted living centers in Des Plaines. At Oakton Place, some of the residents provide me with requests or preferred authors. They enjoy a heady concoction of romances and mysteries with a dash of westerns mixed in as well.
The best part of the process is spending time with those who enjoy books as much as I do when I drop off their books. In the past year I’ve begun shepherding a similar collection at Alden Gardens of Des Plaines. So far I’ve learned their residents enjoy musical concerts on DVD and a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction.
The other program that allows people to access books from outside the library is the homebound program. Anyone who has considerable difficulty in coming to the library for any reason, temporary or permanent, may sign up for this service. Patrons let the library know what they care to read, watch, or listen to, and they can receive regular deliveries of library materials.
One of the homebound patrons we currently serve enjoys listening to biographies of politicians on audio books. Another patron frequently requests movies with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, while yet another receives books and films about or by his favorite directors.
If anyone has any questions about this or any other services, they may contact the Readers Services desk at the Des Plaines Public Library at (847) 376.2840 or by email: ReadersServicesDesk@dppl.org.
