MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Hackley Public Library is expanding its reach into the surrounding community by bringing bins filled with large print books to senior living facilities.
WATCH: Library brings the books to Betty: 73-year-old book lover gets personal delivery service at home
The library first partnered with Harbor Terrace Senior Living, where I met Betty Mayberry, a 73-year-old resident who once dreamed of becoming a librarian and has become a big fan of the new book bin program.
"I always wanted to be a librarian," Mayberry said. "Because I liked books. That was late elementary and early junior high."
While she never became a librarian, Mayberry's love for reading still remains, with a library card collection to prove it.
"I've got one for Loutit Grand Haven, that's where I used to live, one for Spring Lake, one for White Lake community library, and one for MADL," Mayberry explained.
But Mayberry found that Harbor Terrace didn't have a large enough collection of books, which is where Hackley Public Library's Senior Book Bin initiative comes in.
Christina LeVey-Rowland, Outreach Programming Librarian at Hackley Public Library, explained the heart behind the program — to bring the library to readers who can't access it themselves.
"I gathered up 20 large print books, and I put them into a bin, and I will take one every month, and they'll get something new," LeVey-Rowland said.
Hackley Public Library hopes to partner with more facilities in the future to bring book bins to additional avid readers like Mayberry.
