St John Community Library volunteer Grace Spittal has been recognised for more than twenty five years of service.

After reading a Guernsey Press article in 1997, about a library needing volunteers to deliver books to people in their homes, Grace Spittal began volunteering with the St John Community Library.  Almost 26 years later, Grace’s service and continued dedication to the library and its users has been recognised at a recent presentation.

Grace with St John Community Library volunteer colleagues.

The St John Community library is a free to access library service which has both a physical library in the Rohais and also offers a free home delivery service for those who can’t visit the library.  Heather Langlois, chief executive of the St John charity said “Our library is run by a dedicated team of volunteers who also provide friendship, social contact and conversations for people who might otherwise feel isolated or lonely.  A visit from a delivery volunteer like Grace, may be the only visitor that some of the service users will see each week.  We are so immensely grateful for Grace and for all that she has done over the years”.

Asked what she enjoys most about her role, Grace said she spends a lot of time with her readers to find out about their literary tastes which she then uses to customise the selections of books to deliver to that reader. “I had one reader who only read Cowboy books, and over the years most of those books had been issued to him at least seven times! I expect the plots were similar but as long as there was a horse, a goodie, a baddie and a gal – that made riveting reading!  I love meeting people and reading, so I offered my help all of those years ago and am still enjoying it” said Grace.

Grace and Knight Commander of St John Guernsey John Hollis.

The St John Community Library in the Rohais is open to the public on Tuesdays 1pm-4pm.  Home deliveries take place throughout the week. The library can be contacted on 727129 or by emailing library@stjohn.gg