Tuscarawas County Public Library Home Delivery Policy
The Tuscarawas County Public Library System offers home delivery services to Library customers residing in the Library’s service district who are unable to visit any of the Library’s five physical locations. The Library's service district includes all of Tuscarawas County with the exceptions of residents who fall in another library service district, including households and care facilities located in the Dover, Claymont, and Newcomerstown school districts or the Village of Gnadenhutten. Customers are eligible for home delivery services if they are confined to their residences either temporarily, due to illness or accident, or permanently, due to age, disability, or other mobility issues.
Each home delivery customer must register for a Library card if he or she does not already have one. Customers may apply to register for home delivery services by submitting an application on a form provided by the Library. After submission of an application, Library staff shall review the application, determine whether or not the applicant qualifies for home delivery services, and advise the applicant of whether or not s/he has been granted access to home delivery services. If the applicant qualifies for home delivery services, Library staff will set up an intake appointment over the phone to discuss the service and its accompanying policies.
Customers registered for home delivery services may call or email the Library to request to borrow specific titles, or customers may request that a Library staff member select materials based on the customer’s reading, viewing, or listening preferences. There is no fee for home delivery. Registered customers will receive materials either by a Library staff member delivering requested items to their front door/porch or by USPS mail delivery. The Library reserves the right to determine whether the customer will receive materials via staff delivery or via USPS mail. Deliveries will generally be scheduled every two weeks or monthly, depending on the availability of Library resources and the preference of the customer. Home delivery customers shall not be charged for overdue fines; however, replacement costs of borrowed items that are lost or damaged are considered to be the responsibility of the customer.
The Tuscarawas County Public Library System is committed to ensuring that all customers receiving home delivery services are treated with dignity, respect, and impartiality. We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with regard to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted. Furthermore, the Library is committed to ensuring that its staff are treated with dignity and respect, and that their safety is a priority while serving the public. To that end, we have established a set of guidelines that home delivery customers must follow:
- Though Library staff who are visiting a customer’s home will conduct all deliveries and exchanges of materials at the customer’s front door or porch area, Library staff may find themselves conversing with the customer or other residents during deliveries. Home delivery customers and the persons in or around the customer’s home must speak and act courteously to Library staff at all times. Any words or acts of intimidation will not be tolerated and may lead to the Library suspending access to home delivery services for that customer.
- Customers requesting home delivery services must provide a safe and appropriate environment for Library staff who make deliveries to their homes. Staff may choose to leave a customer’s property immediately and/or recommend suspension of a customer’s home delivery services if any of the following conditions exist:
- Any person in or around the home uses abusive, obscene, or inappropriate language; makes obscene gestures; or displays obscene images ď‚· Any person in or around the home harasses Library staff
- Any person in or around the home exhibits threatening behavior
- Any person in or around the home is not dressed properly or is in revealing attire
- Any person in or around the home exhibits signs of illness that may jeopardize the health or safety of the Library’s staff
- Any person in or around the home is engaging in illegal activity at the time of the delivery
- Pets are not confined (with the exception of service animals trained to assist a disabled person so long as the service animals are behaving in a safe manner)
- Pets behave aggressively to or bite Library staff
- There is no clear and safe pathway to the home (e.g., snow must be shoveled and ice removed)
- Conditions in or around the home or on the property are unsafe or unsanitary
- Other conditions or circumstances in which the Library’s staff are not being treated with dignity or respect or feel that their safety is in jeopardy
If Library staff must leave the customer’s property sooner than planned, or if staff deny service or recommend suspension of service due to the occurrence of any of the above, the Library staff member shall provide the Library’s Assistant Director with notice of why such action occurred together with any recommendation for length of suspension of service.
In cases where the Library’s Director and Assistant Director determine that a customer’s home delivery services should be suspended for a period beyond one (1) delivery, the Library’s Assistant Director will prepare a written description of the offending behavior and provide a copy to the customer in question. Suspension of home delivery services shall be for a definite period of time stated in the written description. Customers shall be given the opportunity to discuss the basis for the suspension with the Library Director or Assistant Director.
Adopted by the Tuscarawas County Public Library Board of Trustees August 19, 2019