If you live in Kent and are unable to visit a library due to ill health or disability, your local library may be able to arrange a home delivery service for you.

An initial visit will be organised to discuss your tastes and requirements, library staff will select suitable materials for you and a volunteer will drop your books and collect previous consignment at agreed intervals.

All volunteers are supplied with Kent Libraries & Archives identification cards.

Open Access

We provide collections of books (standard and large print) in English and ethnic minority languages, spoken word cassettes/CDs, audio CDs, videos and reminiscence loans to:

• Day centres
• Residential homes
• Hospitals
• Sheltered housing
• Nursing homes
• Social education centres

For further information please call Open Access on 01622 605243 or email openaccess@kent.gov.uk.

Disabled users

We work closely with organisations for disabled people and specific user groups to ensure our services are accessible to all.

People with a physical disability

Improvements have been made to many of our buildings to give better access for disabled people, and more are being planned.

People who are deaf or hearing impaired

Many libraries now stock videos and DVDs which carry subtitles (closed captions). The videos require the use of a decoder which, connected between the TV and video recorder, will reveal the subtitles normally hidden on the video cassette.
Induction loops are fitted in a number of libraries and archives centres to help hearing-aid users. Most are provided at enquiry desks, but some library galleries also provide a looped room.

Text phones are available in six libraries - Canterbury, Folkestone, Gravesend, Maidstone, Sheerness, Tunbridge Wells - and at Access Services.

Collections of books and videos for adults and children about deafness and hearing loss are available at the Maidstone and Canterbury Hi Centres, where they can be used or borrowed.

People who are visually impaired

Large print books are available in all static and mobile libraries. Many also have spoken word cassettes and the loan charged is waived for blind and partially sighted people.

A free postal service of spoken word cassettes and CDs, is available to blind and partially sighted adults and young people. Applicants will be accepted on receipt of a recommendation from the Kent Association for the Blind (KAB) or a letter from a doctor or ophthalmologist. You may borrow up to 4 books at a time for 2 months.
Basic information about joining a Kent library is available at all libraries in large print and Braille. Other Libraries & Archives information can be made available in large print, audio tape, Braille and computer disc on request.

Print magnification machines (Eezee Readers and TV Readers) are available in a number of service points, and speech to text reading machines can be found in Ashford, Deal and Tunbridge Wells libraries.

For more details call Open Access on 01622 605243

 or email openaccess@kent.gov.uk