Residents in Rutland are being urged to make the most of the county's library service, especially if it helps keep them indoors.

Rutland Library Service says it has much free quality reading material that can be accessed without going outside.

The council says reading for pleasure is known to have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing at any age.

For children, in particular, sharing a story and talking about reading is a great way to improve vocabulary and helps them express emotions.

Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure at Rutland County Council, said: "Rutland libraries provide a great range of services and things to do. The library service is free to join, free to use and much of what's on offer is available online. It's important that we all continue to stay home and save lives.

"Free online library services are a great way to spend the time, especially if people are beginning to exhaust their own supplies of books and reading materials."

The following online services are available free with a Rutland Libraries membership:

eBooks and eAudio from Borrowbox

A wide range of adult's and children's book and talking book titles. Download the Borrowbox app or visit the website at: bit.ly/rutlandborrowbox to use the service with your library card and PIN. Borrowbox features including a dyslexic-friendly font, adjustable playback speed for eaudio and is optimised to work with Apple's VoiceOver.

eMagazines from RBdigital

Access more than 100 eMagazines for free through your phone, tablet or computer. The RBdigital app is available for Android, iOS, and Kindle Fire and has a wide range of top titles including Hello, BBC Good Food Magazine, Autocar, Health & Fitness, New Scientist and more.

eMagazines can be read anytime, anywhere using the free app. Downloaded magazines can also be read offline.Visit: bit.ly/rutland-emags to register and download the app.

eNewspapers and eMagazines from PressReader

Use you library card to access thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world for free. This includes a wide selection of UK national and weekend newspapers and magazines. Available from the PressReader website or using the PressReader app. Find out more by visiting our website: bit.ly/rutlandpressreader

BookTrust HomeTime

Home Time from BookTrust offers online book readings, games, prizes and much more. You can also follow the hashtags #BookTrustHometime #UnitedByBooks on social media.

To register for free as a member of Rutland Libraries , please go online and use the link above.