Delivery services help keep libraries connected
At-home access to resources builds community, relationships with patrons
Palos Heights Public Library’s home delivery service will celebrate a milestone anniversary next year, its 20th anniversary, and one employee couldn’t be happier.
“I spent four years doing the home deliveries before moving to my current position here at the library, and it was genuinely a highlight of my week,” said Matt Matkowski, head of public services. “My favorite part was definitely the patrons. Getting to know them week after week over the years, it was great to stop by and catch up each week.”
The free service began “as a way to get books, audiobooks and magazines to people who, for medical reasons, were unable to leave their homes and come to the library,” he said. But eventually it became more.
“When the library started resuming services after the COVID lockdown, we knew many of our patrons would be uncomfortable returning to the library building just yet, so we expanded the program to any Palos Heights cardholder, regardless of whether there was a medical reason keeping them home,” Matkowski said.
He said the library in 2023 is more than a building, it’s a part of the community. That means providing services to everyone, which required a change in terminology.
“We used to call it the homebound delivery service, but the term homebound had a negative connotation to me,” Matkowski said.
“If you can’t leave your home and come to the library, that’s OK. We value you as a person and as our patron. You deserve to use the services the library provides as much as anyone else,” he said.
The library now regularly delivers a growing number of electronic books, audiobooks and magazines, as well as options to view programs and events online.
Anyone who has a valid Palos Heights library card can use the service. Patrons just need to contact the library and ask to have items delivered, which typically happens one day a week.
“Don’t be shy. Give us a call if
you’re interested in getting library items delivered to you, and we will set it up,” Matkowski said.
The library has a core group of five to seven patrons who get items each month.
“Sometimes people rotate in and out while recovering from surgery or an injury, and sometimes they move away,” he said. “We also make about two to three one-off deliveries each month to people who, for whatever reason, can’t make it into the library before their holds would expire and the items would be sent back.”
Matkowski said one of the biggest challenges is getting word out about the free program.
“For example, a longtime delivery patron of ours had a neighbor who was always interested in getting books delivered but never called us. Turns out this person thought there was a fee for getting deliveries,” he said. “There is no fee. It is a free service. Once she learned that, she became a regular delivery patron.”
Public service librarian Beth Stevens spends up to an hour each week delivering items.
“My favorite part of the job is being able to assist patrons who might not otherwise have access to library materials,” Stevens said. “I also enjoy helping patrons learn about new authors or titles they might be interested in.”
Patrons can request items through the library’s website or ask Stevens or another staff member to place a hold. Staff also can recommend and choose items, as well as helping people receive e-books and e-audio books via the library’s digital database, she said.
Tony Paskowski has used the home delivery service for seven or eight months, mainly to get DVDs. An 88-year-old neighbor had used the service for years, and Paskowski started after having three surgeries that kept him from driving for eight or nine months.
“I love these guys and I’m just grateful I found out about the service,” Paskowski said. “I know Matt personally because before he got the promotion he would be the driver. We were two Polish guys, we hit it off.”
Nanc Junker of Orland Park has been a patron of the Orland Park Public Library’s home delivery service for a little less than a year.
“I’m grounded at home with aging, and my mobility has immensely decreased. ... It’s just too hard a struggle to get into the library,” she explained. “Even parking up front to get inside is hard. I can’t stand for very long.”
She said she has a lot
of books at home so she mostly checks out DVDs.
“The girls and guys are very helpful. If you don’t have the correct spelling of the author, they just go ‘Click, click click — here it is. We don’t have that one but there’s another library that does.’ ”
Junker said the delivery service workers are very personable, and that someone gave her advice about a computer app to watch DVDs on a big screen because of her macular degeneration.
“I even got a little Valentine from the group,” she said.
The Orland Park Library has offered home delivery for more than 15 years, thanks to three people in the outreach department who make it happen.
Sarah Kleiva, the community engagement manager, said the service provides deliveries to individual homes and in visits to senior residences, where patrons can browse and borrow materials. She said Theresa Marketti books senior living visits and keeps track of patrons, but everyone helps choose and check out items, coordinate delivery times with patrons and make deliveries.
The library serves 50 to 60 people each month, delivering about 90 to 100 bags of hand-chosen items, Kleiva said, as well as visiting 14 senior living facilities each month.
“For each visit, we curate a selection of items based on the reading tastes and requests of the patrons at that residence,” she explained. “Outreach has gotten so good at choosing items for our tablings that we’ve been accused more than once of having preternatural abilities!”
Kleiva said she would like to expand the library’s outreach “into new spaces that cater to a wider range of ages, like the Centennial Park pool.”
Theda McMinn, a patron who benefits from tabling visits at her facility, and she’s used the service ever since she moved there four years ago.
“I’m always getting books,” McMinn said. “There aren’t too many here who use the service, but I’m interested and I appreciate it.”
The library showcases 20 to 40 books during each visit.
“It just depends on the muscles,” she said with a laugh. “I appreciate the fact that they don’t just grab everything on the shelf. They bring things they think will be interesting to us.”
Kleiva said the delivery service is important.
“Libraries are for everyone,” she said. “We want to make sure everyone in our community has access to their library’s materials.”