Neepawa Public Library brings stories to seniors
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- Published on Thursday, March 23, 2017
By Miranda Leybourne
The Neepawa Banner
The Neepawa Public Library is bringing a variety of books to the seniors who live at Kinsmen Kourts and Elks Manor, saving them a trip to the library in spring’s oftentimes changeable weather.
Debbie Unger, Branch Supervisor at the Neepawa Public Library, says that once a month, she and the library staff bring books that they think will interest the residents, allowing them to pick and choose which ones they’ll read. The borrowers are required to have a library card, but Unger says signing up for one is easy.
The program has been running for several years in Neepawa and is based on demand and inspired by helping seniors who love to read.
“The monthly visit from the library is an additional and important social connection for residents...not unlike a book club, where friends get together and talk about the books they have read and why they recommend a book or not,” Unger explains. “Apart from the social aspects of seniors connecting with their like-minded neighbours, we believe it’s important to maintain connections to our borrowers by going to our patrons when we know they are unable to come to us.”
Unger says other branches in the Western Manitoba Regional Library (WMRL) offer similar programs, including Brandon’s “book-shopper” volunteers who select books and deliver them to patrons based on the patrons’ unique reading tastes.
“Once a month, they take books to patrons who are unable to leave their homes and pick up the previous month’s delivery so no books are ever overdue,” Unger explains. “This is a program that we’re considering for Neepawa and the immediate area if residents are interested. All we need is the request to provide the services and to match the borrower with a volunteer or family member who can make the deliveries.”
Above all, Unger notes, the library is in place to not just provide readers with books, magazines and multimedia, but to also help them forge community connections. She says the library is looking at different options for expanding its services into other locations that show interest.
