Program Gives Residents ‘Freedom’ at Home

Retired rural school teacher and 87-year-old Florence Wright has always been an avid library user. She recalls a couple trips every week to the Golden Valley Library.

"I was putting away paperbacks on shelves, I started putting away children’s books," Wright said. "I enjoyed it very much.”

But when she fractured her pelvic bone two years ago, the Golden Valley resident’s library routine came to a quick halt—that is, until her daughter told her about the Hennepin County Library’s Outreach Services program, which delivers library books and services to county residents who can't easily get to a library on their own.

“At least three times a week, I call in and get something,” said Wright. “I see something in the paper that looks interesting and I’ll call and request it [from the library].”

The program recently received the 2011 Exceptional Service Award from the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, a division of the American Library Association (ALA). 

"This award gives national recognition to the outstanding library service that Hennepin County provides for people who are unable to go to any of our libraries due to disability, mobility issues, or confinement in a correctional facility,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein.  “It also raises awareness of the need to access library resources for self-improvement, lifelong learning, and leisure reading, regardless of someone’s personal situation. “

Wright is one of about 800 at-home customers of the Outreach Services throughout Hennepin County. Last year, these residents received more than 40,000 books and other library items.

“We try to bring the experience of the library into the home where that person is living,” said Patrick Jones, a Senior Librarian at Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka, the hub of the county's Library Outreach Services.

With enthusiasm, Jones spends many days at his desk handling calls from residents unable to use the library. He helps coordinate mail-in library services to the residents homes, as well as the work of 75 volunteers who pick up and drop off materials for residents who chose that option.

In addition, Outreach Services also provides small library “deposit collections” for people living in senior assisted living, independent living apartments, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. Sixty collection sites are spread across the county, with four in Golden Valley.  

The program also offers library and literacy services to Hennepin County’s Adult Corrections Facility and Juvenile Corrections Facilities, including the Workhouse in Plymouth, the Juvenile Detention Center and the County Home School in Minnetonka, and also provides limited library service to the county jail. In 2009, Jones says, over half a million items circulated throughout all of the branches of the Outreach Services program.

“The majority of (people we serve) do not have Internet access. If you’re incarcerated or 90 year old, what does that do for you?” Jones said.

The County Home School, which houses  male and female juveniles for short- and long-term periods, has an on-site library Jones helps stock every month. He also helps coordinate author visits, and storytimes for  young fathers, and even gives kids a chance to publish their own work. Jones spoke of a Golden Valley youth who left Home School far more engaged with literature and reading at a higher grade level than when he was first incarcerated.

"We see that over and over again,” said Jones. “We try as much as we can in the correctional facilities to mirror a library experience. Most of these men and women don’t have a positive experience using libraries.”

Jones says he receives countless letters from incarcerated youth thankful for the exposure to literacy and imagination.

“It would make you cry. The comments just break your heart," Jones said. "We got one last week from a guy who said my life is kind of limited now, this service saves me because it keep a window of freedom open to me.”

It has also opened a window for 88-year-old Golden Valley resident Anita Kramer and her husband.

“We have traveled the world almost sitting in our chair watching these DVDs, and they have been superb,” said Kramer. “I got involved with it, and I can only say it’s the best service that ever was.”

For more information on Hennepin County Library’s Outreach Services, you can call the At-Home service line Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at (952) 847-8850.