Book deliveries plan for the housebound
Proposed digital service could replace mobile library
A new initiative could see library books and services being delivered to the homes of people who are housebound and isolated.
Renfrewshire Leisure hopes to introduce a new service after consultation has taken place with organisations that provide supportive care to people who are unable to get out of their homes.
Tablets could be used to access the thousands of titles available in local libraries and books could be delivered by those who make regular home visits to the housebound.
This new service would be financed from the re-investment of the resources made through Renfrewshire’s mobile library service being taken off the road from April 27.
The decline in people using the mobile library service, the aging fleet and rising costs does not present value for money – and new technology can help a wider group of people who are housebound and can’t access either a local or mobile library due to a lack of disability access.
The number of visits to the mobile library has dropped by 65 per cent in the past five years from 9,344 to 3,277.
Chief executive of Renfrewshire Leisure – which operates the local library service – Joyce McKellar said: “Along with Renfrewshire Council we have been investing heavily in our library service and we want to make sure the benefits of this investment are available to everyone – even if they can’t get out of their homes to visit a library.
“The mobile library service no longer makes best use of the money and resources and if we can re-invest the money from the current service to bring books and other library services to the housebound, then that is a better use.
“We’re committed to our libraries and we’re providing people with a modern and up- to- date ser vice that includes not just borrowing books, b u t things like community spaces, access to computers and the internet along with digital learning suites.”