Every month, a librarian takes 25 books to both the Otterbein and Compass Park retirement communities in Franklin.
Johnson County Public Library Adult Services Manager David Allen has continued the routine at Compass Park since he started working for the library system in 2013, but in June, he dropped books off at Otterbein for the first time after a five year hiatus. He continued the program at the retirement home after it was cancelled in 2014.
The Johnson County Public Library has storage spaces with books that can replace ones that get lost or damaged. Instead of letting those books sit idly, the library system checks those books out, either to retirement communities or to schools, said Holly Kubancsek, manager of the circulation department.
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Otterbein called in May requesting the program be continued due to interest from some of the residents, and Allen added the retirement community to his monthly book delivery. The library system used data from what authors and genres were most popular among Otterbein residents, who, during the five years they didn’t request Johnson County Public Library services, relied on the retirement community’s collection, Allen said.
The residents enjoy reading David Baldacci, Janet Evanovic and Louis L’Amour books, with new fiction the most popular choice. Along with 20 large print books, Allen includes five audiobooks in his delivery to Otterbein, he said.
“When I went in and talked to them about starting it up again, they were excited,” Allen said. “I met with the activities director, they also picked up monthly programming. Monthly, what we’re doing there is showing videos or DVDs and they wanted videos on national parks.”
The DVDs help residents see parts of the world they might not be able to travel to because of physical limitations, said Sharon Swingley, activities director at Otterbein.
“Some of the residents can’t travel,” Swingley said. “You don’t even have to pack a suitcase.”
At Compass Park, residents not only get to read books on their own time, but discuss them as part of a book club that meets every week, said Sarah Duke, activities director for the retirement community.
“One of the (residents) used to work for the library,” Duke said. “She was over the moon when (Allen) brought her her own personal library card. He hand-delivered it to her. She said ‘it makes me feel like a person.’”
The book drop off program is just part of an overall effort by the Johnson County Public Library to reach people who can’t make it to a branch location, Director Lisa Lintner said.
“We ask staff every year about projects that can make a difference in the community and one of the circulation staff members mentioned doing a collection center at senior living communities,” Lintner said.
The library also takes donated paperback books to the Johnson County jail each year.
In Greenwood, children’s services librarian Sue Salamone drops books off at Country Charm, another assisted living facility. Salamone delivers under the same system as Allen. She drops off books and includes index cards that residents can sign when they’ve read a book. There, Steven King is one of the most popular selections, Salamone said.
“We definitely want to be accessible to all our patrons,” Salamone said. “When they’re in a retirement home, they can’t necessarily take a field trip to the library.”
