We recently established a Rural Services Department, encompassing our Bookmobile Services, Mail Order Library, and Regional Contact Center.
By aligning these departments, our goal is to develop a unified vision and strategy for reaching our most rural patrons. In reimagining our service models, we will focus on reaching the individuals in our district who have the most barriers to library access.
Our Bookmobile brings library services to communities that do not have proximity to a library location or who have barriers to accessing library services. The Bookmobile serves as a library on wheels, bringing all the materials you would find in one of our branches – books, DVD’s, music, and more. Moving forward, Bookmobile services will primarily focus reaching public and private schools that do not already have school libraries, job training sites, senior living facilities, and other community programs.
The Mail Order Library service is one of the first of its kind in the nation and one of the last remaining. Mail Order allows NCW Libraries to serve individuals and families who have barriers to accessing local library branch locations. Anyone with an NCW Libraries card can place holds for library materials online at ncwlibraries.org, by emailing mailorder@ncwlibraries.org, or over the phone 509-663-1117 ext. 159. Learn more here. Items are mailed directly to the patron’s home, free of charge. The package includes a prepaid return shipping label and bag. The Rural Services team is collaborating with local branch staff, the NCW Libraries marketing team, and community partners to build awareness of and engagement in Mail Order services. Staff is also working to creatively navigate any barriers patrons might have to accessing Mail Order services.
The Contact Center routes incoming calls from the public to appropriate branch and administrative staff. They assist patrons with placing holds, account and technical support, and accessing online resources. The team responds to all emails sent to info@ncwlibraries.org and manages the live chat messaging resource on our website. On average, they respond to 150-200 emails and messages per week. The team regularly answers questions related to library accounts and checkouts, providing an extra tier of support for patrons.
The development of Rural Services has provided the opportunity to review the ways we reach our rural patrons. We have been proud to provide Bookmobile service through our North and South Bookmobiles over the past several years. Our North Bookmobile was first established with the priority of serving our region’s rural schools. However, a recent audit showed that each of these schools already have a school library or access to a nearby NCW Libraries location. Additionally, North Bookmobile service has proved challenging due to the geography of the region, winter weather, and subsequent road closures. As a result, the North Bookmobile will be discontinued in mid-November. Local branch staff in Okanogan and Ferry Counties are already working with schools, partner organizations, and rural communities to identify more sustainable and consistent ways we can provide library services. The South Bookmobile’s service routes do not have these same challenges and their services will continue.
All three of these areas have similar goals of reaching historically underserved populations across the region. Bringing these departments together, reviewing their service models, and aligning their goals will build capacity for the district to provide more sustainable and consistent services to more people across NCW.
NOTE: Since making this announcement, we have sincerely appreciated hearing how much people in our communities loved our North Bookmobile services over the past 5 years. We are grateful for the passion our community members have for public library service. We share that passion and completely agree that everyone in our five-county service area deserves robust access to library resources. Which is why we are investing heavily in the most remote pockets of our region through our new Rural Services Department.
Click Here for a FAQ and (a lot!) of information about this change.
Additional Information
Rural Services Press Release 10.2023
English