Nora Kilpin sorts through books returned to the library. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
Getting lost in a good book isn't always possible for people who can't get to their local library because of mobility problems.
So, for 50 years in Palmerston North, the city library has taken the world of reading into the homes of those who struggle to get out.
Retiree Aileen is one of about 110 people who have their regular supply of reading dropped off.
"How can I get out now? I'm just about 90. It's a matter of carting the books to the library and up the steps. I couldn't do it."
But she still likes reading. "I like romance, with a bit of mystery and a bit of how's your father."
How's your father, westerns, puzzles and DVDs - every week volunteers select works off the shelves they think home service clients will like.
It's not an exact science, but they do their best.
And for 89-year-old Shirley, who can't get to the library, her bags of books, dropped off by delivery volunteer Wendy McTaggart, are a lifeline.
"I just look forward to the books coming. As soon as Wendy's gone I'm into the bag, finding out what's in there, what I can read, and they're good company. [You] lose your aches and pains."
Shirley reads mostly novels, but likes autobiographies too.
"I like going to bed with a book. It's company, it really is.
Wendy McTaggart has delivered books for the service for 10 years. Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
"You have no idea what it's like to bed on your own and you think, 'Do I have to go to bed? Oh, I've got a book. I've got a good book.'"
Shirley is one of eight people McTaggart, a volunteer driver for 10 years, delivers to.
"I just love doing this service," McTaggart said.
"If I was ever without a library book it would be terrible. I just love visiting the people that I go to, the housebound people, and I think it's a great service."
Husband and wife team Joan and George Catherall are also volunteer drivers.
Joan Catherall's mother used the service in the 1980s and 1990s, so she knows what it means to the people she delivers to.
"I actually only see one - I deliver to two others, one at a rest home, one who has dogs she shuts away, but I talk to them on the phone. They know I'm coming."
Home service co-ordinator Nora Kilpin, a library employee who oversees the process, said its clients were issued about 1300 items a month.
"We're so glad that they can read again because they have missed their books so much. They're re-reading their own books and things like that."
Other libraries have similar services, but the Palmerston North one is staffed almost entirely by volunteers.
Kilpin said this came with challenges.
"It's probably getting harder now to get volunteers because they have to have to own car. They have to be quite fit still because the bags can be quite heavy. They also have to have time.
"Quite often people work past retirement age."
Despite this, the service has come along way from the early 1970s when it began as a trial catering for just 17 people.
