In addition to the At-Home Service, the Hennepin County Library's Outreach Department offers programs for inmates at the adult correctional facility in Plymouth, transition programs for juveniles at the Home School correctional center in Minnetonka, and conversation circles and language tutoring for recent immigrants. Community volunteers are involved in all of these programs.
To have books delivered or become a volunteer
For more information about Hennepin County Library's At-Home Service, call 952-847-8850 or go to www.hclib.org and click on Outreach. For information about Hennepin County Library volunteer opportunities, call 952-847-8598 or go to www.hclib.org and click on Library Information, then Outreach Services.
By Kelly Westhoff
When Lucia Leck moved back home to the western suburbs after 30 years away, she sought a volunteer opportunity that would help her reconnect with the community.
While attending an author event sponsored by Hennepin Country Library, she picked up a library newsletter. In it, a listing called for volunteers.
As a retired first-grade teacher, Leck spent a career teaching reading skills and sharing her love for books.
A volunteer position with the library made perfect sense.
"The importance of bringing good literature into the home is near and dear to my heart," Leck said.
Throughout the winter, Leck delivered library materials to the home of one Hopkins man who is in a wheel chair.
"It was hard for him to get out and get to the library in the winter," Leck said. "He is quite computer literate so he would do his library ordering online and then I would get a call to go and pick up his order. I would check everything out on his account and then drive it over."
"I met his cat and we would exchange pleasantries," Leck said. "He always ordered really lengthy materials. Four or six weeks might pass before I'd hear from him again."
The At-Home Service is just one volunteer opportunity among many offered through the Hennepin County Library system. But its a program garnering national recognition.
This month, library officials learned its At-Home Service was a recipient of the National Association of Counties' Acts of Caring Award.
The award honors community-based, government volunteer programs that strive to preserve quality of life for community members.
Hennepin County Library Director Amy Ryan will be in Washington D.C. this week to accept the award during a Thursday ceremony on Capitol Hill.
"In 2006, the At-Home Service program had over 43 volunteers that put in over 900 hours of time," said Patrick Jones, senior librarian and director of the library's Outreach department. "They delivered library materials to 62 different home-bound members. In years past, they've delivered items to as many as 75 different members."
Some home-bound recipients are computer savvy and have learned to manipulate the library's Web site, yet many are elderly members who shy from today's high-tech card catalogs.
In these cases, volunteers often forge relationships with their recipients.
Over delivery runs, the pairs share topics and book titles they are interested in. Some volunteers make lists and rummage through library stacks themselves in order to satisfy the reading needs of their homebound friends.
"There is a whole generation of people," said Jones, "who never learned to use a keyboard. This service allows these people to maintain their involvement with the library."
"Some of our volunteers only deliver to one member, but there is one volunteer that has six people," said Jones. Many of the At-Home volunteers have been with the program for months or even years.
"People who seek out volunteer experiences in their community want to feel like they are making a difference," said Jones. "I think the At-Home Service really provides that. It offers immediate gratification, direct pay-off. Our volunteers are people who like to read, people who get excited about books. Their work through us is to deliver books and in the process they get to share conversations about reading."
The At-Home program also delivers library materials to home-bound members by mail.
In the past year, roughly 750 people relied on this service. Members call in their orders. Additional volunteers man the phones, others help sort these materials and prepare them for postage.
"The goal of the library's outreach department is to break down barriers for those who have barriers using libraries," said Jones.
"So many people on both ends of this program are lifelong readers and loyal library patrons," Jones stressed. "This program is really here to say that this part of your life can continue despite age, sickness or disability, and we're going to make it happen."
Plymouth resident Lee Hickerson is making it happen for two area homebound library members. He is also a former teacher turned At-Home volunteer. He's been serving in the program for four years.
"Reading and education are very important to me," Hickerson said. "When I was a teacher, I always enjoyed reading aloud to my kids. This work just seemed like a real natural segue for me. Now I share my love of books with adults."
Over the past few months, Hickerson has been delivering books to a young man who'd been in a motorcycle accident. As a result, the man was paralyzed from the neck down. Hickerson brings him materials every three or four weeks.
His other recipient is an elderly woman who enjoys reading true-crime stories.
"I've literally gotten into the stacks and pulled books that I thought would interest her," Hickerson said. "I'd call her a week later, and she'd be done with them. She'd have a 300- or 400- page book read in four days."
"She is older and she does have health problems," he said. "Sometimes she's up for reading and sometimes she's not." Therefore, Hickerson hasn't found himself overwhelmed with her delivery runs.
"I really like the connection we've made," he said. "In the beginning, I really thought I was just going to be delivering books. I'd get over there and we'd chat a little, but now those chats have turned into visitations," he joked.
"Hennepin County is growing and it does have an aging population," Hickerson said. "The At-Home reader program is one way to help our aging population stay connected to our library, which is a wonderful community resource."
"I'm just so happy about this service," he added, "I'm happy it's getting recognized and getting coverage because unless people know about it and sign up for home delivery, there isn't any work for the volunteers."
