Volunteer With Libraries

What is a Home Library Service Volunteer?

As a Home Library Service volunteer you’ll be selecting and delivering books to people who are severely restricted in their ability to leave their own home.  You’ll be a lifeline in preserving the reader’s link with the library and their love of books. In some cases you’ll also be one of the reader’s much diminished number of social contacts and one of their greatly appreciated links to the wider world.

What will I be doing?                           

• Selecting books from the library that match your reader’s reading preferences
• Selecting specific items from the library for the reader, when required.
• Delivering books and library resources to your reader, at a mutually convenient time (often on a monthly basis).
• Talking to your reader about the books and chatting about other common interests and maybe such topics as what is going on in the world.
• Returning the reader’s books to the library when they’ve been read.

Is it for me?

This role will suit you if:

• You are a lover of books and like to talk about them.
• You are enthusiastic about libraries and understand the personal impact of not being able to access them.
• You enjoy talking to others in a social context.
• You are concerned about the social isolation of some housebound people.
• You have a few hours a month to make a positive difference to other people’s lives.

Why should I volunteer with you?

• You have a chance to make a real and direct difference to your community by providing library resources to those who otherwise would not be able to access them and by making social contact with isolated people.
• We are dedicated to maintaining a supportive and encouraging atmosphere for our volunteers; providing training opportunities where appropriate.
• We will reimburse travelling costs.

For safeguarding reasons, as part of the recruitment process we carry out Enhanced DBS checks on new volunteers for this role. Please let us know if you wish to discuss this.