We have forged new partnerships to give our library customers not just free use of the latest tablets for browsing and becoming more digitally confident, but to help people of all ages more easily access a range of support and services for their daily lives.

Organisations including Age UK, NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire, our Youth Employment Hub and DWP’s jobs and benefits advice teams are reaching into the libraries, and using the new equipment to help people make immediate practical use of their new IT skills.

Speaking at a special launch event at Hereford Library in the Town Hall this week, Cllr Elissa Swinglehurst, Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Environment, said:

“It’s a win: win for residents and various services aiming to help people. We’re bringing them together in a comfortable, familiar place to learn how to use digital technology to benefit their daily lives.

“Our libraries have created an innovative, joined-up approach. Whether it’s jobseekers looking for information and vacancies, older residents starting to navigate the digital world, people becoming more socially connected online, or patients wanting an easier way to manage NHS appointments, prescriptions and find support - it’s a one-stop-shop opportunity.”

The tablets are available for customers to use in the libraries at Hereford, Ross, Leominster, Ledbury, Kington and Colwall. They are free of charge on production of a library card and offer another option alongside the libraries’ PC service. 

Local organisations already co-locating in some of the libraries to deliver their core support and help people access added value online services include:

• Our Youth Employment Hub:  helping young people carry out job searches, develop skills and build digital confidence
• Age UK, which uses the tablets in its digital cafés based in four libraries - supporting older residents to gain new digital skills go at their own pace in a familiar setting
• The tablets’ home screens include NHS App access and NHS Talking Therapies, making it easier for people to stay on top of appointments and prescriptions and to access mental wellbeing support
• In Ross-on-Wye, the local Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) service has teamed up with the Council to created simple, secure routes to job and benefits information, giving residents immediate access to trusted services

The Herefordshire Libraries team is developing a model for good practice in making digital technology accessible and available to people of all ages and backgrounds. A research project in partnership with Accessible Herefordshire has included testing the tablets with different groups around the county including Westfield School in Leominster; ECHO, the specialist day services provider for people with disabilities; Hereford Board Gamers; and the Make It Real Board, which is the voice and representative organisation for people using adult social care services in the county.

Find out opening times and details of other services available at our libraries on our website.