One of the many services provided by the Garland County Library is Free Delivery. In January, James Nowlin made over 200 deliveries to library patrons throughout Garland County.
By Erin Baber
Last month I shared Part 1 of a series about what the Garland County Library offers the community. Hint: It’s a lot. It’s so much that by the time this article is published, there will be something new – a new event on the calendar, a new collection circulating, a new service, a new partnership, and so on. So, without stalling, I’m going to jump in right where I left off last month.
The library has made several changes to our circulation policies over the last few years. Items are automatically renewed twice per checkout unless they are requested by another patron. We lowered the age to get a library card from 5 to 3. We made it easier to get a library card and easier to use the library through various services – the newest of which is free delivery.
Free delivery is one of my favorite new services because we’re able to reach more patrons who are homebound, limited on transportation, or just plain busy. Due to the size and shape of Garland County, Library Director Adam Webb has long envisioned ways to better serve the far reaches of the community.
We’re currently a single-site library, without smaller branches spread throughout the community and not everyone in our community is able to visit our building. Everyone should have access to their library. To help overcome this obstacle, we started testing free delivery first with our Hot Springs Village residents during the beginning of the pandemic. We worked out some kinks and now proudly offer free delivery to over 90% of Garland County.
James Nowlin, our outreach coordinator who oversees deliveries, made 223 deliveries in January 2022, circulating 1,354 items. Calculating the distance to and from the library from all of those 223 delivery locations, we potentially saved our patrons a collective 6,335 miles of driving.
Anyone interested in free delivery is encouraged to email delivery@gclibrary.com to learn more.
Next month I’ll talk about some of the special collections we have at the library. Learn more about the Library at www.gclibrary.com. Call 501-623-4161, email gcl@gclibrary.com, or visit the Library in-person at 1427 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs, AR, 71901.
