Why we do it . . .

I got an interesting email this week from a listserv for bookmobilers. It included some old photos of horse bookmobiles in Kentucky, well specifically Pack Horse Librarians. These librarians worked back in the middle of the last century bringing books to people up in the mountains far from libraries.

Librarian delivering a book:



















The whole crew before setting out:















It's interesting to see how many ways are found to make sure people have access to books.

Today in Africa there are Camel Bookmobiles in Kenya and Donkey Bookmobiles in Zimbabwe. There is Epos in Norway, a book boat. There is a floating bookmobile in Alaska providing Native Americans access to library materials. Bookmobiles can be found all over the world - in Australia, Sri Lanka, Croatia, China, South America, India - you name it, there is probably a bookmobile. I have been contacted several times by organizations in Saudi Arabia asking for advice on starting and running a bookmobile.

In places with small population density or widely scattered settlements bookmobiles fill their traditional role of bringing the library to the citizens. But with the developement of urban centers, the need for bookmobiles have not diminished. Bookmobiles are strong around the world in urban areas as an inexpensive alternative to buildings providing the flexibility to go where the public lives. In Ireland and other areas of the U.K., bookmobiles are replacing libraries because of their relative inexpensiveness. In cities like Toronto Canada, libraries provide a strong urban service along side of traditional branches. In urban areas the barriers to service is not a sparse, widely scattered population, rather the barriers are major roads, lack of personal transportation, tough neighborhoods and parents having to work long hours rather than being available to take children to the library. It is easy to forget that not everyone has access to a car, that using public transportation to a library can be a challenge, especially with small children. This was brought to all our notice when the MLK Reading Room closure was announced. Many parents in the Hill District had safety concerns if the children had to walk to another library outlet, however close.

Although bookmobiles have been in the U.S. for over 100 years, there is no sign of a fading of the need, the use or the existence. All over the U.S., communities are starting new service and they can be found, just like here in Allegheny County, in densely populated areas - New Jersey, Ohio, Florida. Click here and find a list of just a few of the bookmobile services around the country. We bookmobilers are passionate about the service - and not just because it is our livelihood. We are on the front lines, seeing the importance of what we do. We see the elderly resident of an assisted living center coming out by walker to pick up a romance, we see the Head Start student coming out and being thrilled to be allowed to pick out his/her own book, we see everyday people, tired at the end of a long day working, bringing their kids to the bookmobile because they know it is important for the kids no matter how tired the parent might be. Why do we do it? As it says in one of our slogans - We are driven to serve. We know the importance of literacy in all its forms, know the importance of providing access for all sorts of people, and we know if we weren't there, most of these people would not have that chance to read.


Book: Case of the Missing Books, by Ian Sansom
Book: The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton
Kids Book: Mystery of the Bewitched Bookmobile, by Florence Parry Heide
Movie: Stanley and Iris