Delivering the library
If it's Tuesday, this must be Alden. Over every two-week period, staff and volunteers from Vernon Area Public Library deliver books, movies and music to 120 residents of local assisted living centers who are unable to get to the library on their own. Invariably, the deliveries are met with happy exclamations and calls down corridors, "The library people are here!"
Between visits, three library staff members have loaded carts with materials hand-picked for each home-bound patron. Staff have developed relationships with long-term patrons, some of whom have been receiving deliveries for as many as 10 years. They've asked new service recipients a series of questions to discern their reading, watching or listening preferences: Fiction or nonfiction? Biographies? Historical or contemporary? Large type? Audio books?
"It's a puzzle figuring out what patrons will like and when they like what we pick for them, it's rewarding. We pride ourselves on personal service," said Jennifer Steigerwald, the library's senior and home-bound coordinator. "We see the service as a bridge between patrons and the library," she added. "Even though they can't get to the library, they can access anything we lend."
On this overcast and chilly Tuesday morning, library employee Cheryl Silverstein and volunteer Jen Ernsteen push a cartful of materials into Alden of Long Grove, a rehabilitation and long-term care facility about six miles from the library. It's mid-morning and there are activities under way, nurses are dispensing medicines, televisions are broadcasting reruns and talk shows. Some rooms are dim, the inhabitants napping. Silverstein quietly exchanges materials so new books or movies await the patron when they awaken.
Other rooms, decorated with photographs and grandchildren's artwork, are brightly lit and residents ready with books to be returned. Silverstein knocks gently on closed doors, announcing, "I've got new books for you!" She and Ernsteen know every patron and expertly pull materials from the cart for each. They chat about various books and series with residents. Some choose from the selections library staff have made while others happily receive whole stacks of books or DVDs to tide them over until the next visit in two weeks.
Moments after Silverstein and Ernsteen have explained that Alden has the largest number of residents receiving home-bound service from the library, a man approaches them in the hall and asks, "Are you from the library?" He explains that his wife was just transferred there from the hospital and he'd "like to get her engaged" as she rehabilitates. He guides Silverstein and Ernsteen into a nearby room where they chat with the woman about what kinds of materials she would like delivered when they return.
Ernsteen is one of five longtime volunteers helping with Vernon Area Public Library's home-bound visits and she is the only one to go out every week. "I love going," she explains. "I'm a reader, my mother is a reader, my grandmother was a reader. When my grandmother couldn't get to the library, my mom would get books for her. I saw what joy that brought her. I like bringing that same joy to people."
It's Wednesday and library staff member Mary Roseman and volunteer Betty Gavitt are at Sunrise Senior Living in Buffalo Grove, moving from suite to suite to deliver materials and briefly chat with residents. "These library ladies are so nice," remarks 91-year-old Marilyn, who then tells Roseman, "You have big hearts to do this for us." She has just received a small stack of Nancy Drew mysteries. "I had a whole set when I was a kid. I still love them."
A couple, Lindy and Betty, also in their 90s, chime in on one of the books they're returning, "Oh, we really enjoyed that one!" They appreciatively review the stack of new books chosen for them - not romances, explains Gavitt, but stories with female protagonists. Gavitt later explains that Lindy reads books aloud to his wife.
Later that day, Roseman and Gavitt navigate the maze of corridors stretched along five floors at Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire. Whenever library materials are hand-delivered, they are met with expressions of gratitude, "You're very nice to be here," "I welcome you back any time" and "I couldn't pick out any better books than those you bring me!"
The last stop of the day is to visit Mary Ankrom. The 92-year-old responds to a knock with a cheerful "Come in!" She sits by a large picture window overlooking a pond. "I have the best view!" Ankrom exclaims. She's perfectly dressed, with carefully chosen jewelry and recently manicured hands.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Ankrom still speaks with a gentle lilt as she explains how a southern girl like her got to the Midwest. ("I met a boy from Ohio during the war.") She praises a novel by Kent Haruf before renewing the book she has in her lap, Amor Towles' latest. She lights up when told she's a ray of sunshine. "I try to be a ray of sunshine every day. I learned it from my mother. I'm so glad I had her example."
The cart now filled with books, movies and music to be returned, the delivery crew heads back to the library, their minds already working out which titles to bring next time. "We get emails and phone calls from our home-bound patrons, thanking us and telling us our selections for them were 'spot on' or how our deliveries are like Christmas," said Roseman.
To learn more about the home-bound delivery program at Vernon Area Public Library, call 224-543-1406, email senior@vapld.info or visit www.vapld.info/services/senior-and-homebound.