Starting a home delivery service

[Roeki Demaria]

Hello all!

I'm at a small library in Vermont. We're interested in starting a home delivery program. We are in the planning phase of the process, and I'm not sure how to advertise a new service. I will probably be doing the deliveries initially and then will likely recruit some volunteers. I'd love to hear your  triumphs, tribulations, and stories about your process or any advice you can offer.

Here to help,

Roeki DeMaria, MLIS

(roh-key dee-muh-ree-uh)

(she/her/hers)

Patron Services Librarian

Waterbury Public Library

28 N. Main St. Ste. 2

Waterbury, VT 05676

[Mary Beth Adams]

I’m attaching a FB ad we have run in the past to advertise our service, and our brochure. I also am attaching our registration form!

 

You can put up signs in your library, along with brochures, and train your circ staff to ask anyone who looks like they’re eligible if they’d be interested. Also, reach out to the facilities in your community - the activity directors can recruit people who would be interested as well! I think word of mouth from our patrons is our biggest draw, but activity directors are a close second.

 

Our volunteers go through an application process through our county, which includes a background check. I would make sure that if you have a plan to do background checks for volunteers. We haven’t offered gas cards yet, but I know other libraries do give them to volunteers, and, depending on how much driving they’re doing, that might be necessary to recruit volunteers!

 

Most people will be thrilled to hear you’re offering this service, so mention it to everyone! You’ll definitely get people signing up.

 

Mary Beth Adams (she, her)

Community Engagement Librarian

Alamance County Public Libraries

(336) 570-6981

 

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[Rebecca Cooper]

Hi Roeki,

We started a home delivery service during the pandemic when our library was closed to patrons (we have since transitioned to mail out service). We started out by calling all of our patrons over the age of 60 to see if they would be interested. We also advertised it on our website and in our newsletter as well. We ended up with about 120 participants (about 65 of them were regular, biweekly deliveries).

Obviously, due to the pandemic there were some hurdles. We used my own SUV with a 3rd row seat. My colleague sat in the way back to keep our social distance. We divided our delivery area into east and west subsections and delivered alternatively each week. We mapped out a route based on addresses and made deliveries.

Looking back, I wonder how we did it. It was great to get out of the library when there were no patrons and felt great being able to deliver to those who were not able to even do curbside pickup.

Warm regards,

Rebecca Cooper

iPhone (910) 273-7525

Home (651) 766-6861

Sent from Gmail account

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[Maureen Birchfield]

Our delivery program is over 45 years old. We use volunteers to pick, pull, and deliver materials. The biggest problem is that volunteers are very hard to find. Hope this info helps, Maureen

Maureen Birchfield
Hedberg Public Library

Programming & Outreach Assistant
316 S. Main St.
Janesville, WI 53545
(608)758-6592
mbirc...@hedbergpubliclibrary.org

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From: abos-o...@googlegroups.com <abos-o...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Roeki Demaria <ro...@waterburypubliclibrary.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2022 2:17 PM
To: ABOS-O...@googlegroups.com <ABOS-O...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: [ABOS-Outreach] Starting a home delivery service

 

Hello all!