Outside the stacks

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

The East Bonner County Library District has already proved itself committed to expanding the library’s reach beyond the walls of its brick-and-mortar branches by offering services through the Bookmobile, which makes weekly stops across the county’s far reaches. 

In that same spirit, EBCL is now offering outreach services to the community’s senior population, and is currently accepting applications from homebound residents who would like regular visits to receive new library materials.

Andrea Evans, the district’s outreach and Bookmobile manager, shared the current outreach schedule with the Reader:

• Every other Wednesday EBCL visits the Senior Center from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.;

• Every other Friday EBCL visits the Woodland Crossing Senior Apartments from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and then the Sixth Street Senior Apartments from 1-3 p.m.;

• The alternating Fridays EBCL visits The Bridge Assisted Living.

Evans said that on these visits, she sets up a “mini-library” in a community room with a selection of books, movies and other library materials.

“Neighbors of these facilities are welcome to come in and take advantage of the library,” she said. “We get to know the patrons at each visit and then bring more specific selections based on their preferences. We can issue new library cards at each location provided the patron has an ID with a local address within the library district with them.”

To find out the schedule on any given week, call the Sandpoint Library’s Outreach line at 208-263-6930 ext. 1281.

The library district also hopes to reach seniors and other homebound folks by scheduling home visits to deliver desired library materials. EBCL will launch a “Seniors” tab on its website soon, which will feature a link to the homebound application as well as information on other services.

“This would involve an outreach person connecting with them individually to assess their situation — what they’d like to read, watch or listen to, and what format and genre best suits their preferences,” Evans said. “We will then schedule home visits to deliver materials on a bi-weekly basis anywhere within our library district.”

Until the link on the website goes live, people are welcome to call 208-263-6930 ext. 1281, email [email protected] or visit the library to obtain a homebound application form.