"Library Services Provide Easy Access To Materials"

There comes a time in the lives of many when the mind is willing but the body can’t rise to the occasion. I’m referring to the aged and visits to the Library!
To help those readers who are in nursing homes, retirement communities, or at home but shut in and unable to be out on their own, the Library’s “Outreach” service is a marvelous way to have books and other library materials delivered on a regular basis—monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly.

A phone call to the Library’s coordinator of outreach services, Kathy Soulliere, initiates the delivery and pickup process. Mrs. Soulliere interviews the prospective outreach client to learn about the person’s reading interest and whether the materials should be exclusively in large print or if regular print is preferred. Once a reading profile is determined and a delivery and pick up schedule is set, Mrs. Soulliere will begin selecting reading materials for her clients.

To expedite the delivery and pick up of the selected materials, Mrs. Soulliere relies on a cadre of dedicated volunteers. Some of the library’s outreach volunteers have been delivering to the same patrons for so long that friendships have developed. The outreach volunteers have been known to alert medical or social service authorities when they have noticed something awry during a scheduled delivery.

There will be some who are reading this column who will personally inquire about the Library’s outreach service. It is hoped, however, that others who know of someone in need of the service will contact Mrs. Soulliere so that she can make a personal inquiry. Just because a resident is homebound, his/her access to library services needn’t stop. Books can be delivered directly to the patron by a friendly volunteer.

Related to the outreach service available at the Library, the “Talking Book and Braille Service”, located at the Nebraska Library Commission in Lincoln, provides specially designed audiocassette players and “talking books and magazines” on audiocassettes to Nebraska residents with visual or physical impairment. Any individual who cannot see to read regular print or hold a book or turn its pages qualifies for this free service. Individuals with a reading disability, such as dyslexia, qualify as well. To enroll in this federally and state-funded program, a patron should phone the Lincoln office at 1-800-742-7691 to request an application form for free talking book service. Once a medical professional, rehab counselor or librarian signs the front of the application, the Lincoln staff will call the individual to set up a profile of reading interests, prior to sending an audiocassette player. Cassettes of favorite books and magazines will arrive at the person’s doorstep on a regular basis and are returned to the Lincoln office postage free. In addition to national bestsellers and other popular fiction and nonfiction, recorded by professional narrators, the Talking Book and Braille Service offers books and magazines about Nebraska, which are recorded by volunteer narrators in the Library Commission’s own studios. Some of the best volunteer readers are prisoners from the State Penitentiary.

Recent donations to the Columbus Library Foundation include those in memory of Pam Zehring from members of the “Between the Lines” book club including Deborah Rasby, Lori Zinovic, Katheleen Lohr, Linda McPhail and Margaret Harry. A donation was also received from Jacquilyn Alfson in memory of Esther Tessendorf.