by Gretel Bock, Outreach Librarian
Are you or is someone you know homebound? Unable to travel to the Library due to a physical challenge or visual limitation? These are not reasons to give up your love for reading, enjoying a film or documentary, or listening to audiobooks. The Library provides a delivery service to residents of our town and valley who are homebound due to a temporary or ongoing condition.
This service is called House Calls, and it ensures that homebound residents can sustain their love of reading, listening and learning. Our clients are delighted to enjoy home-delivery of items selected around their interests, and brought to their doorstep.
2020 has posed some new challenges, but I’m happy to report the House Calls service is going strong—and safely, thanks to some extra planning, great partners, and a little creativity.
Last March, when shelter-at-home orders went into place, our deliveries were suspended too. But our clients, many of whom live alone, were always on our minds. From March through June, we made weekly calls to House Calls patrons to ask, “How are you doing?”
Volunteers are such an important part of our Library, and a special thank-you goes to our House Calls volunteer, Fran Gabrielson. Fran made all those weekly calls to our clients last spring, offering them a friendly and familiar voice during a time when it meant so much.
In May, when the Library re-opened for curbside service, House Calls deliveries resumed too, thanks to a great local partner: Via Mobility Services, which provides transit locally, helping our residents stay self-sufficient. Give those Via drivers a round of applause!
This summer we returned to our normal delivery process, with Library volunteers taking a “drop-off outside your door” approach. During scheduled pick-up times, our clients leave their Library returns outside their door, and we leave a bag of new books and materials for them to enjoy. We wave happily, and safely distanced, from outside.
If you reside within the Library District and are unable to visit the downtown building due to one of the following conditions, then consider signing up for the House Calls program. To be eligible for the service, a participant would need to meet one of the following criteria:
- You have a short or long-term illness
- You have visual limitations
- You have physical challenges
- You are in non-driver status
- You’re a caregiver whose responsibilities make it difficult to visit the Library
If you’re interested in the program, or if you know someone that would benefit from home deliveries, give me a call at (970) 586-8116, extension 827, or email me at gbock@estesvalleylibrary.org. Or click here to visit our House Calls website link.
We’re available to answer questions. We are not overbooked. And yes, we are delighted to say, “We make house calls!”