Case study

Sue Ferguson from Bookham is one of the volunteer coordinators as well as doing her regular round of deliveries to housebound clients. Sue is an ex member of library staff who helped manage the Books on Wheels service (now called Library Direct) before she retired in February 2006, after which she immediately became a volunteer.Sue thinks that getting on with people is the main quality needed by a volunteer: "Most of all you need to like people. Book knowledge you can pick up. I enjoy meeting people and I enjoy the satisfaction of providing a service."

One of Sue's clients is Vera Kunz from Capel. Vera is 82 years old and has lived in the village for 63 years. Her nearest child lives in East Sussex. She likes a mixture of books, mainly fiction, and she only reads large print. She doesn't watch much TV. She says of Library Direct: "It's so lovely being able to have different books to read. I've always been a keen reader. I used to use Dorking library when it was a little wooden hut''

Sue visits Vera every five or six weeks. The visits aren't just book deliveries. Vera says "We enjoy a little chat and a cup of tea. It's like a little social call and gives me something to look forward to – it's very quiet here."

As a volunteer coordinator Sue also recruits new volunteers from time to time and accompanies volunteers in her area on first visits to new clients. Again, enjoying meeting new people is important but you need other attributes too: "You need to be good with people and have some organisational skills; you also need to be fairly flexible. It's good to have your own clients as well so you know what it's all about."