Get Books Delivered at Your Door

Learn how the library’s Home Delivery Service can help homebound residents of Campbell County.

At her home in Bellevue, Rose Schweitzer sits in an armchair as her cat, Hampton, watches from the kitchen. Scattered throughout the room are stacks of books, including three from a series authored by Scott Pratt, which was mailed to her through the library’s Adult Outreach Services department.

When Schweitzer fell and injured her right knee in September, leaving her unable to drive, she faced months of being homebound. Using the library’s Home Delivery Service enabled her to receive library materials in the mail.

“It made my rehabilitation go by faster,” Schweitzer says. “I think it probably aided my healing in that, if I did not have books to occupy my time, I would have been trying to do too much, too soon here at the house.”

Throughout recovery, many of her days were spent with a book and Hampton at her side. A former elementary school teacher of 32 years, she believes in the power of books to take readers to places they may never be able to visit physically. Schweitzer, now a Campbell County Courthouse employee, says she has read more in the past two months than she has in two years—a feat made possible by the library.

The home delivery service is available to residents of Campbell County who cannot visit the library due to temporary or permanent illness or disability. Materials are selected based on one’s interests and needs; materials delivered include regular print books, large print books, magazines, DVDs, audiobooks and CDs. They may be mailed to your home for free or delivered by the adult outreach services assistant. Once materials are mailed back, patrons may receive more.

Her mailman, who knew about her injury, would bring the package to her door. In that way, she says, the service not only provided entertainment but socialization, too. Her genre of choice? Detective and suspense novels. Other books in Pratt’s series were among the first she requested from Kelsey Stratton, the adult outreach services assistant.

“I got one from Tennessee and one from Rowan County,” Schweitzer says. “And the third one she got for me was from Campbell County… I thought, ‘Kelsey really worked to find those books.’ I mean, it was just wonderful. She would send me three books at a time in a package. When I’m finished reading, I just send them back.”

The service also introduced her to new authors, including Charles Martin and Francine Rivers. The first time she spoke with Kelsey, Schweitzer says she asked questions that really dug into the kind of books she enjoyed reading.

“It’s just a wonderful service for somebody who can’t get out and needs something to occupy their time besides just sitting and watching TV,” she says. “I’m thrilled that I was able to use it and would highly recommend anybody who—long term, short term—wants to take advantage of that service to do so. What a great, great service it is.”

For more information on home delivery and other adult outreach services, visit www.cc-pl.org/services/adult-outreach or call 859-572-5035, ext. 352.

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