Rotorua library service delivers thousands of books to schools and housebound readers

Over five years, Rotorua's Library To You service issued 81,906 books. Photo / 123rf

A mobile Rotorua library service has delivered more than 80,000 books to housebound residents, school children and youth offenders over the past five years.

Rotorua Lakes Council’s Library to You service – previously the housebound delivery service and onsite outreach van selection service – has operated for more than 25 years.

It was among the 92% of libraries offering a similar service.

Council organisational performance and innovation group manager Thomas Collé said, in response to a Local Democracy Reporting official information request, that the service was about equity.

It provided equitable access for the Rotorua community to enjoy reading resources regardless of their physical ability to visit the library.

Library to You services were for people housebound because of age, disability, illness or injury, stress, wellness, caregiving responsibilities, social or economic issues, and who have a lack of available support.

This could be at home or in a rest home.

“We deliver books, magazines and memory aid resources from our dementia collection,” Collé said.

It also delivered to preschools and primary schools, including the School for Young Parents and the Youth Detention Facility.

“Many schools no longer have libraries, and both schools and preschools have limited budgets to offer students books for recreational reading to supplement curriculum-based reading. The purpose is to encourage a love of reading and improve literacy.”

Rotorua Library has a Library to You service, delivering books to schools and housebound customers. Photo / Andrew Warner

Anonymised examples of service users’ feedback included the daughter of a Redwood Village resident who said how much her mum loved the books.

Another was a 92-year-old from Lake View Villas who said receiving the books was the highlight of her day.

How it worked was every individual or school filled in a profile for book selection; Western was “consistently” the favourite for those who were housebound.

Staff chose fitting books and delivered to a schedule.

The dedicated library vehicle is driven by the Library to You co-ordinator and customer support staff on a rostered basis.

The vehicle is also used to provide literacy outreach programmes to preschools and schools.

The service is funded through the library annual operating budget, received from rates, and costs about $40,000 a year.

The vehicle cost $45,000 and was funded by Rotorua Friends of the Library.

In the last five years, it serviced 26 preschools and 22 classrooms in six primary schools, reaching an estimated 1800 children over the past year.

On average, the housebound delivery service supported 28-50 adults each year.

In the five years to April, it issued 81,906 books, eight DVDs, 1018 magazines, 257 memory aids and 1234 talking books for a total of 84,423.

Housebound deliveries were fortnightly and covered about 72.4 kilometres of driving each time.

Monthly primary school deliveries covered about 135km each time, excluding the Christmas holidays, while preschool deliveries were about 96.2km each month.

“Our longest-serving customer has been receiving housebound deliveries for 20-plus years. Most of the individual housebound customers would receive service for several years,” Collé said.

Laura Smith was a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.