Housebound members of the community are often very isolated and experience social exclusion. Home Library Service reaches out into the community to housebound readers.

The high profile of National Year of Reading and the many access points through the media, online and via library programs and services could provide a number of points of contact for housebound readers. Encouraging housebound members of the community to engage with National Year of Reading 2012 can be addressed in a variety of ways by home library service workers in public libraries.

Please share your ideas for National Year of Reading and Home Library Service: (some ideas from the main list have been repeated here)

Use the National Year of Reading logos on your Home Library calendar and communications.

• Where to find the NYR logos
• Examples of the Lane Cove Library's calendar (created by Jillian Yau) pdf, doc, pub versions
  

Housebound readers who are tech savvy might like to participate in:

• the Love2Read Reading Group (Twitter Reading Group)
• the Classic Readers’ bookclub
• follow National Year of Reading on Twitter and Facebook
  

Encouraging housebound readers to try something new:

• as part of a Readers’ Bingo game (eg. new genres, new formats, branching out into non-fiction, trying young adult titles)
• blind dates with a mystery book (wrapped up with a Love2Read mystery book sticker on the package)
• distributing a Love2Read badge or bookmark gift to housebound readers with their regular delivery

Encouraging housebound readers to interact with other readers

• using talking books or ereader devices to encourage housebound readers to read along with local book clubs
• housebound readers writing reviews for the library newsletter or being interviewed for the library website / national year of reading promotions
• book chains (resources and information on how to run a book chain are available at the Opening the Book website )

Encouraging housebound readers to engage with the "Our Story" book club (see the notes generated by the NSW Home Library Service Working Group)

Create a book bingo card for your HLS readers. Here is an example of what a readers / book bingo card could look like.

• Read an ebook	Read a fantasy	Read a crime
  Listen to an audio book	Use the catalogue	Read a romance
  Read a non-fiction	Read a magazine	Use an internet computer
  Watch a DVD	Read a mystery	Read a historical novel

Have you considered setting up a story / interview with one of your home library service clients and the local paper as a way of promoting your services? It might be one of the stories that helps to celebrate National Year of Reading in your community. See this story from the USA as an example.