Local library helping Forest Hill residents get their book fix
Forest Hill resident Marilyn Orr holds a book she received through an outreach program run by the Beaverbrook branch of the Ottawa Public Library. Through the program, library employee Gregor Bertram (pictured at left) visits the Kanata long-term care home every month with books residents request.
Kanata LTC home is finding great success using local library’s outreach program
Forest Hill life enrichment co-ordinator (LEC) Craig Forrest says residents at the Kanata long-term care home who enjoy reading have been receiving excellent service from an outreach program offered by the Beaverbrook branch of the Ottawa Public Library for about two years.
Through the program, library staff member Gregor Bertram will visit the Kanata long-term care home with books residents request from the library each month.
If a resident is interested in a particular book, or if there is a genre or author Craig knows a resident is interested in, he will call Gregor who will come to Forest Hill with a selection of books.
In addition to books, which are usually in large print, Gregor will also bring in audiobooks if residents prefer listening to their stories.
”We have a lot of residents who take advantage of this,” Craig tells The OMNIway. “We have some residents who will take one or two books, and we have other residents who will take 15 to 18, and they will read all of those in a month, and when Gregor comes back in a month he will bring 15 or 18 more.”
If residents haven’t finished reading the titles they’ve borrowed by the time Gregor returns, he will renew the books so they can keep them another month, Craig adds.
The LEC praises the library’s service, adding Gregor “bends over backwards” to meet residents’ reading needs.
“The service is really good,” Craig says.
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