© The London Borough of Hackney
March, our workshop involved creating record sleeves for clas- sic female singers from the sixties. Cue Cilla, Dusty and Aretha! We take great pride in providing stock that our customers, some of whom have used the service for many years, will appreciate.
“It’s one of the best things in my life, says 67-year-old Stephen, who began using the service after his eyesight started to deteriorate. “Staff do a damn good job to bring me fabulous things! They are the friendliest people in my life. I love the Community Library Service!”
Seventy-year-old Barbara, to whom we deliver 30 audiobooks every month, agrees. “Hackney Libraries are wonderful to run this service. You take so much trouble to find out what I want and get it for me. And you are always so courteous. I love it!”
Hospital outreach
The Community Library Service has undertaken weekly visits to Homerton Hospital for many years, but with the arrival of COVID-19 and lockdowns, those visits were suspended. We relaunched the hospital delivery service in 2023, liaising with staff at the hospital to ensure safety measures were met. Working with the team at the hospital’s own Newcombe Library, and clinical staff on 10 wards, we wanted to make sure that the library’s visits became part of the hospital’s weekly routine. Staff there have been able to promote our service to patients and visitors, and frequently direct us to patients whom they know will benefit. Long-stay patients will often make specific requests which we are able to fulfil. We keep a well-stocked and carefully curated collection of books on site. Every Wednesday afternoon two of the library team spend a couple of hours taking the trolley round the wards. It’s not just about books, though. We spend time chatting to patients who may be lonely, bored or anxious. We identify those who could benefit from our home-visit service once they have left hospital, and direct patients to other local and council services that support wellbeing and social connection. It’s not uncommon for our own, predominantly older, cus- tomers to spend time in hospital, and those patients always appreciate a familiar face from the library team. We’ve also befriended long-stay patients in the hospital’s Regional Neu- rological Rehabilitation Unit facility, helping them to include reading as part of their neurological rehabilitation. The team’s hospital visits are vital in keeping the library at the heart of the community. Our presence maintains the profile
Winter 2025
of the broader library service, and helps us establish connec- tions with other partners, which include Macmillan Cancer Support, City & Hackney Dementia Service, BlindAid and CSV Befrienders, all of whom regularly refer their users to the Com- munity Library Service.
Recognition
It’s been both a surprise and an honour to be commended by the Disability Network. Reaching residents who would most benefit from the library’s home-visit service is a constant challenge: this is a group who may not visit library branches, can be socially isolated, and who do not have easy access to online services. The commendation has raised the service’s profile within the council, among external partners and within the broader community landscape. Often referrals will come to us from the friends or family of elderly or mobility impaired users. As Kaye Bagshawe, Manager at Homerton Hospital’s Newcombe Library says, “This is a much-loved, long-standing service that has a huge impact on the lives of people in Hackney.”
We love having the opportunity to blow our own trumpet! Building partnerships
One of the great lessons has been the importance of connecting with partner organisations. These relationships don’t always have to be grounded in large-scale projects. Sometimes the sim- ple fact that a clinical consultant at Homerton Hospital knows about the library’s weekly visits is enough to put us in touch with a patient. Our weekly visits have also enabled us to sign up new users once they have left the hospital. All of these factors enable the Community Library Service to reach users (and their fami- lies) who can benefit from what we offer and help keep libraries at the forefront of local activity.
Identifying local organisations with which the library service can partner requires creativity, a willingness to make connections and an acknowledgement that relationships take time to grow. Have a clear idea about how the service you offer aligns with that of the organisation you want to partner with. Be flexible. Be consistent. And don’t be afraid to admit to what you don’t know. That’s how you learn, after all.
The Community Library Service team is staffed and managed by a dedicated team who love books, understand and respect the needs of a diverse London community, and who believe that every interaction, however small, has the potential to make a dif- ference. We’re delighted that our work has been recognised! IP
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