What's on offer at your local library?
Ayub Khan, Head of Libraries (Strategy) for Warwickshire Council since 2006, started his career with a holiday job as a Saturday assistant. Nowadays, he sits on various committees, advising on library issues at the highest level. Here, Ayub describes what's on offer in libraries today. Why not pay your local branch a visit?
What can libraries do for you?
Being older often means having more time to follow interests and hobbies that you were too busy to enjoy in years gone by. Leisure time is a luxury nowadays - and libraries can help you make the most of it, even if you are not as mobile as you used to be. Warwickshire, for example, has 34 libraries, plus a fleet of high-tech mobiles - each offering free internet access and touring out-of-the-way areas. We still loan out books, but do a lot more besides.
Meet new people
Our libraries offer plenty to interest everyone, from author visits and reading groups, to 'well-being' coffee mornings and 'silver surfer' sessions for both beginners and people who are more computer literate. Our Community Information Database, available in libraries or online, provides contact details for all sorts of local clubs and societies - ideal for those looking for new hobbies or interests, or to make new friends.
Free resources for family and local history
Those looking to research their family tree can book one-to-one sessions with a local history librarian to get started. Plus, why not access ancestry.com - a valuable online resource on library computers - for free.
Get online for e-books
The county's popular computer library service operates around the clock and is always being improved. It offers access to more information, resources and entertainment all the time, and all from your own home. Later this year, for example, a new 'electronic book' loan service will be launched, which has hundreds of books that you can access and read from your computer.
Libraries can come to your door
The service as a whole is popular with older people. More than 20% of adult library members in Warwickshire are over 60. The figure includes 240 people who have difficulty getting out - they are visited regularly by the Home Delivery Service, run in conjunction with Age Concern. Our mobiles also take library services out to residential homes and sheltered housing schemes countywide.
Audio books and large print
All Warwickshire libraries and mobiles carry books in large print, along with audio books on cassette or CD. Earlier this year we introduced a new audio gadget popular with older borrowers. 'Play Aways' are talking books you can enjoy while 'on the move' - cleaning or gardening, for example.
