Home Library Service Volunteers • Vision RCL

Home Library Service Volunteers


Do you love working with the public? Do you want to create inclusive and transformative experiences for our more vulnerable customers? We are looking for sociable and caring individuals to help those customers who find it difficult to visit any of our libraries due to old age, disability, illness or have caring responsibilities.

Your task will be to go out into the community and assist these customers to enjoy the benefits of their library membership by visiting them in their own home, day centre, hospital or residential home to deliver books, CDs, DVDs and other information materials.

You will support your branch library with a variety of duties outlined below. Are you ready to join in a bold opportunity to help us take your local library to an entirely new dynamic level?

For more information please visit the Home Library Service page.

What will you do?

As a Home Library Service Volunteer you will be matched to a Home Library Service Customer. You will introduce them to the service, phone them regularly to discuss favourite authors, and the types of books and genres they like to read or listen to and arrange to visit and to deliver books to them at home.

Who You Are

  • You are able to deliver books to customers. Travel expenses agreed in advance with the HLS Manager will be reimbursed.
  • You engage well with others and are passionate about libraries. You have a sensitive, helpful, warm and friendly personality.
  • You love your library, wanting to expand and enhance the activities that happen there as well as being an informal advocate of the library within your community.
  • You enjoy working with people of all backgrounds.
  • You have good communication skills and are able to speak English well. The ability to speak other community languages is desired but not essential.
  • You have some experience of dealing with adults particularly with older people and disabled people.
  • You are self-sufficient and can work independently but feel confident to ask questions should the need arise.
  • You are happy using computers, reserving and issuing books for customers.
  • You understand the need for confidentiality.
  • You are at least 18 years old. There is no upper age limit for volunteering.

A position you will love!

As a Home Library Service volunteer, you will:

  • Visit your customer initially with the HLS Manager to assess their needs
  • Select materials based on the customer’s requests and interests.
  • Keep in contact and visit your customer(s) on a regular basis in their place of residence.
  • Provide information about new services in the libraries and the council.
  • Provide regular updates to the Home Library Service Manager including any concerns about the customer.
  • Submit a monthly report of the number of hours that you have volunteered.
  • If you are using your own car to drive to customers then let your insurer know that you are using your vehicle for volunteering purposes.

Where and when you would be volunteering:

  • The Home Library Service can take place anywhere in the borough of Redbridge. We will aim to assign you to a customer in your chosen area.
  • All HLS volunteers are placed initially on a three-month trial basis where they are supported by the Home Library Service Manager.
  • This activity takes place all year round and ideally you will visit the customer every 3 to 4 weeks.

Please ensure that you have read all of the information under Volunteering on our main page before applying.