Library delivery service benefits housebound members

At the Westmount Public Library, book-loving volunteers run a program for housebound library members, giving access to books and other items in the library collection to those who might otherwise be deprived. Roughly 40 people currently make use of the program. Library members can subscribe to the service by phone; some do so only during winter, when sidewalks are slippery. There’s no fee, and books are delivered and picked up every two weeks. The library provides a list of new books, and library staff are available to present further suggestions.

The service for the housebound is overseen by library clerk Colette Connors. She helps select and sort the books which go out, and often speaks by phone with the library patrons who use the service, discussing new books and possible choices for them to read. “We’ve been getting very positive comments,� Connors observed. “They’re very thankful for the service, and we go out of our way to help them.�

Every second Thursday, books are selected and packed by Connors and by volunteers Sheila Lerner and Edith Drummond. Some readers are very specific about the choice of books or authors, while others give much broader guidelines. Drummond, formerly a librarian at Westmount High and LCC, and a volunteer with the program for 15 years, noted that “When I first started, the readers were interviewed; people would go around and visit them and see what type of books they would like. They kept a list of all the books that you had loaned these people, so you wouldn’t loan them again. Now, of course, it’s all computerised, so that makes it much easier.�

For Lerner, as well, a life with books has led to her current activity helping others through the library. “I belonged to this library for about 55 years, I guess, and I like reading very much. And I live next door at Manoir Westmount, so I thought the least I could do was do something to help.�

Many patrons choose seven or eight books for each delivery, while some will only take one. On the following Thursday, Micheline and Christian Vaismen pick up the books to deliver them. “Thursday morning we come in around 10 o’clock,� said Christian Vaismen. “Everything is ready, in bags, with their names and address.� Christian is the driver, while Micheline brings the books from their car to the patron’s home, and picks up the books from the previous delivery.

“We’ve established a route,� said Christian. “It took me two or three times.� The route takes roughly two hours to drive. “The first three times I did it alone, and it was hell parking. So I asked my wife if she would come with me, so I could stay in the car. She said of course ... We can see that we bring a little bit of joy, a little bit of a personal relationship with the people; we listen to their stories.�

“I like to meet people,� said Micheline Vaismen, “I like to be with people.� Volunteering through the library allows her to talk about books and make friends: “Some of them, I would adopt them.� Both of the Vaismens know the joy of reading from a young age. As Christian noted, “I volunteer with the feeling of giving back to society what society gave me, the love of books since I was 7 or 8.�

Someone who knows what it is to love books also knows the importance of keeping that love alive for others. That’s the mission of a library. It’s also the inspiration for volunteering time and effort: for sharing the joy a book brings.