Hastings District Libraries

Our Books at Home service provides library material on a regular basis for people who, for reasons of ill health or disability, are unable to come to the library.

This service is available free of charge to residents of Hastings District, dependant on location and availability of a volunteer courier or family member. 

To minimise costs and time, we will try to assign you to a Books at Home volunteer who lives near you.

What we can provide

Fiction, non-fiction, large print books, talking books, music CDs, magazines, DVDs and videos may all be borrowed through the service.  Talking books are available in various formats: on tape, CD, MP3, Mb4 & Playaway.   Items issued on your Books at Home card are for your use only. 

Signing up for the service

To be eligible for the service, you must:

• Be housebound
• No longer drive a vehicle

A temporarily housebound status may be available if you are recovering from an illness or accident.

If you are eligible to receive the Books at Home service please contact the Community Librarian at your library. You will be interviewed in your own home to find out your reading tastes, delivery information and issue periods required.  We will join you up if you are not already a library member.

This information is provided to the volunteer courier to help them with selection and delivery of items.

You may be placed on a waiting list until a courier becomes available.  Alternatively you can nominate a friend or family member who can act as your courier.

Charges

Normal loan criteria apply to Books at Home customers, except that they do not incur overdue charges.  Reserves, CDs and DVDs are free of charge.

Standard charges apply for books and magazines from the Bestseller Collection.

Collection

Books should be collected and changed on a monthly basis, depending on your needs.

If you take longer than a month to read an item, books can be renewed for a further four weeks, providing there are no reserves on them.

Appointments

I you are unable to be home when the courier is due to visit, please inform your assigned courier, or the library.

You can arrange with your courier a time to deliver that suits you both. Otherwise please be considerate and give your courier or the person selecting items one or two days notice for book delivery.

Holidays

The service can be put on hold until you are able to start receiving library material again.

Leaving the Books at Home service

It is your responsibility to ensure that all books that have been borrowed are returned to the library when you leave the service.

Volunteer Couriers

If you would like to help with the Books at Home service by being a courier for a housebound patron, please contact the Community Librarian at your library.