Celebrating our volunteers: Launching the Ladywell Mobile Library
The Ladywell Unit recently celebrated the launch of a brand-new Mobile Library Project, transforming the Community Cafe into a pop-up library for service users and staff.
A generous collection of donated books — from thrillers to poetry — started the first iteration of the library on Evans Ward and was carefully curated by Activity Coordinator Jessica Tulomba. After coming up with the idea to start a library on the ward, she worked energetically to collect more donations from staff to ensure a diverse catalogue of books was available for our service users. The Evans Ward library was a success, but the team wanted to ensure all wards could access the collections.
Thanks to the incredible work and dedication of Activity Coordinator of Wharton Ward, Harriet Henderson, the full collection has been carefully catalogued into an online database and is now available for all wards in the unit.
This new system allows staff and volunteers to search by themes to help find books that match their interests. The online database also cleverly keeps track of where each book is located within the unit. Each borrowed book is logged in the catalogue to ensure the library remains well managed and sustainable.
The volunteers working on this project set up a display in the café area, taking books from storage and arranging them for browsing. The space was transformed into a relaxing and inviting space for all, with service users invited to come, explore and borrow books to read in their personal time.
One of our volunteers, Phil, has been working in the UK and abroad at many organisations. We spoke to him about his reason for getting involved in this project.
Phil said: “I was particularly attracted by the library project because, being an avid reader, I am interested in books and look forward to discussing mutual likes and dislikes with the service users. It is expected that this will lead to me getting to know them on more than just a superficial level. This project is new, and I gain great satisfaction from being involved in things from the beginning as it encourages discussion with others to work out the best way to organise the project.”
By the end of the event, a total of 16 books had been borrowed by service users and staff from four wards – a brilliant start for the service.
Reading is proven to benefit mental health and wellbeing by reducing stress, lowering heart rate, improving mood through escapism, building empathy by understanding other’ emotions and perspectives and more.
The first event saw 16 books borrowed by service users and staff from the four wards. This is a huge achievement for the mobile library and is just the beginning of a new project to support wellbeing on our wards.
Sophia Awan, Lead Occupational Therapist said: “The library will be such a great addition to The Ladywell Unit and provide our service-users and staff with a way to engage themselves in meaningful, self-occupying activities, as well as provide us with a valuable opportunity to get people interested in reading as a healthy hobby!”
The volunteers will be taking the library trolley to wards every week, making it easier for everyone to access books and return the ones they are finished with. In addition, monthly pop-up sessions will also continue in the Community Café to offer a space for people to share what they’ve been reading and connect.
