Residents are being given a winter reminder of the benefits of Somerset Council’s Home Library Service.

Winter can be a lonely time for people who find themselves housebound. But they can venture into a whole new world of reading thanks to the Home Library Service (HLS).

The free service is run by the Council with the support of a team of willing volunteers. It delivers books to people who are unable to get to their local library, such as those who are housebound, living in long term care, carers, or people who are vulnerable due to long term conditions or disabilities. The service is open to people of all ages.

Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, Executive Lead Member for Communities, said:

This is a brilliant service. Reading books can help keep your mind engaged as you grow old, helping to improve memory and reducing stress.

The Home Library Service plays a really valuable role in bringing the library to your front room for so many people, taking them on journeys from the comfort of their armchair to whole new worlds and meeting new characters.

Somerset’ Home Library Service offers a wide range of services alongside its extensive collection fiction and non-fiction books in different formats including:

• regular print;
• large print; and
• audio books.

It also has an extensive collection of digital resources available to borrow including:

• e-books;
• e-audio;
• e-magazine; and
• e-newspapers.

There’s a loan offer for iPads to support residents in accessing online resources including the library app Borrowbox.

Customers are matched up with a volunteer – fully trained and DBS checked – who will visit regularly at a suitable time. The volunteer will spend time understanding the customer’s reading preferences so that they can select the right books. They choose and order these books and deliver them at a convenient time.

To find out more about this service or volunteering opportunities, email Home Library Service manager, Lauren Davis, at lauren.davis@somerset.gov.uk or phone 07814 079831.

For more information, visit the Council’s Home Library Service page.