Books on Wheels
Cheshire Libraries in partnership with the Womens Royal Voluntary
Service (WRVS) provide a personal service direct to
the homes of readers who, through age or infirmity, are unable to
collect their own books from a library, and whose friends and
relations are unable to do this for them.
WRVS
volunteers visit the
readers on a regular basis, usually fortnightly, delivering the
books and talking books that have been asked for. They provide a
very friendly and efficient service.
The following Cheshire East libraries provide a Books on Wheels
service: Alderley Edge, Alsager, Congleton,
Crewe, Holmes
Chapel, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Nantwich,
Poynton, Sandbach, and Wilmslow.
We produce a quarterly newsletter, Round the Houses, for our Books
on Wheels clients. It lists some of the new books available and
includes puzzle pages and readers’ contributions in the form of
memories, book reviews and poems.
For more information contact your local library.
Books on Wheels is always looking for new volunteers to help
maintain the level of service that we offer and our volunteers give
different levels of input ranging from one day a month to a few
hours a week.
There are a number of ways that you could help:
- Visiting / Driving: Volunteers go out to
readers from all the libraries listed above, using their own cars,
for which they claim expenses. It is not necessary to be able to
drive as volunteers always go out in pairs. Routes vary, as some
people will like to have a chat while others see the visit as a
delivery. This role would suit someone with good communication and
personal skills.
- Book Selection: Spend a few hours in an
afternoon using selection sheets to choose books and talking
books to suit individual tastes. This is perfect for someone who
enjoys solving a puzzle! (This role is not available at all the
Books on Wheels bases, as in some cases it is the library staff who
will do the book selection).