‘EVPL To You’ to Assisted Living Facilities
Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
Last year, EVPL launched an innovative extension of a current service—EVPL To You—to reach a previously underserved group: senior citizens and others residing in assisted living facilities.
For more than five years, EVPL has provided community childcare facilities with a monthly rotation of library books, courtesy of EVPL Outreach, whose mission is to bridge barriers to library service.
In 2023, EVPL Outreach launched an extension of this service to assisted living facilities. Participating organizations receive curated rotating collections of library materials for their patrons to enjoy at no cost. Facilities receive their own EVPL-branded bookshelf and a list of each delivery’s titles for easy tracking. Every three months, the collection is picked up and exchanged for a fresh collection. Materials in the delivery are predominantly books, with the majority being large type format. EVPL also provides a small selection of Playaways for the visually impaired.
Challenge/Opportunity
With the experience of the past few years, EVPL Outreach has fine-tuned the material delivery service, improving efficiencies and processes, to ultimately prepare for expansion.
Community data indicated a gap in services when it came to older adults residing in the more than 20 assisted living facilities in our service area. EVPL Outreach began building relationships with some of these facilities by hosting EVPL To You events, getting to know the residents, their interests, and how EVPL might serve them. The result: they wanted books!
Outreach uses its own designated collection for Materials to You for childcare facilities, so the first challenge experienced was a lack of adult material. With the help of library locations, Outreach quickly built a collection from withdrawn bestsellers and large type books. Due to the success of the program, Outreach is now also purchasing new large type books to supplement the initial collection.
Key Elements of Innovation
While other libraries serve their communities in similar capacities, e.g. Homebound Delivery, tours, etc. this service is unique in that it provides a large collection of materials that rotate every three months, ensuring that there is always a fresh selection for patrons to enjoy.
As EVPL Outreach launched this service, the need for large type materials became apparent; the team adjusted the collection to be approximately 90% large type.
This service also acts as the perfect springboard for introduction to additional library services available to our communities, including tech assistance days, other collections and digital resources, and EVPL-led activities including bingo and trivia.
Achieved Outcomes
Since beginning EVPL To You for assisted living facilities, EVPL Outreach has served 9 facilities, totaling 675 adults. A facility would spend more than $8,000/year to purchase the same number of books. By the end of 2024, EVPL Outreach plans to increase the number of assisted living facilities serviced by 50%.
There are more outcomes that can’t be measured:
- A resident shared that during EVPL Outreach’s tech assistance, she learned to text, deepening her relationship with her son, who is deaf. “The first text I sent him really did change my life. We were both so excited to find a new way to communicate.”
- During a delivery, a resident shared that because of this service, she and another resident fell in love. She was browsing the collection when another resident started talking about a book about horses in the collection. She said she didn’t believe at this stage in her life, love was still possible, but they found it through a shared love for horses and reading.
