The Elizabeth Taber Library and the Marion Council on Aging have teamed up to bring books to homebound residents.

The home delivery program, which Library Director Libby O’Neill said has been active for two or three years, was designed to help anybody who has trouble leaving their home borrow books, whether they are senior citizens or not.

“If someone calls the library and says they’re not able to make it to the library due to an illness or disability, or even if they just can’t drive because they broke a leg or something and they just can’t get out of the house, we arrange for them to have books delivered,” O’Neill said. “We notify the COA and one of their drivers will pick up books here and deliver it to [a person’s] house.”

There are only two stipulations to using the service: you must be a Marion resident and you must not have any outstanding fines at the library.

Homebound residents who are interested in the program just need to call the library to put in a book request. If it’s for a specific book, the library will place a hold on the book and call the COA for delivery once the request is in, or if the resident is not sure what book to choose, the librarians will talk through the types of books the resident likes to read and then make a “judgment call,” O’Neill said.

According to Heather Sylvia, director of the COA, delivery never takes more than a couple of days.

“We can usually deliver things in one or two business days,” she said. “And I think two would be a lot to wait. I don’t think we would wait that long.”

While the program has been around for a few years, O’Neill estimates that over the past two years it has only been used 10 to 15 times.

“I wanted to let people know that if they aren’t able to make it to the library, we’re still happy to reach out to them,” she said.

For more information call the library at 508-748-1252.