I know that there is still a month until it is officially summer, but the weather finally got hot, Memorial Day has come with the first big picnic of hotdogs, hamburgers and potato salad, kids are counting the days til school is over. We are all thinking summer.
I'll be showing my age, but thinking summer brings thoughts of taking that long trip in the big family station wagon to visit our grandparents in Maine. That trip was something we prepared for for weeks. My mom would seal all open packages of food in the cupboards and clean the house. My dad was in charge of making sure the car was ready for a long trip - washing it inside and out, checking the 'fluids' and so on. My brothers and I would carefully consider and reconsider what we would be sure to take, since we each had only one small suitcase that we could take. The best part of the preparation was going to the bookstore and selecting one book each for the trip - we were gone the whole summer so library books were not an option. We tended towards collections of comics: BC, Peanuts, Pogo. My mother would get a few magazines. My dad didn't get any since he drove the whole way, of course. We weren't allowed to look at the books or magazines until we were actually in the car and on the road. I can remember sitting in the dark car (in the middle of the back seat on the hump of course) waiting until it got light enough to see the pages. We set out as soon after 4 AM as possible, so it was quite a wait. Of course the book was read in the first couple of hours, leaving the next 6 - 8 to travel games like trying to find all the license plates for all the states (no trucks allowed) or racing to do the alphabet from signs along the road (you can do the whole alphabet driving through Worcester either way).
When I started traveling with my own children, now driving the even longer trip from Pittsburgh to Maine to visit the grandparents, I followed the family tradition - but thought about the voracious appetites my kids had. We went to the bookstore (didn't want to risk forgetting the library books) and got stacks of books - 4-5 each kid at minimum. The books had to last the whole trip there and a few days before we could hit the local library. We would leave the books there and get another batch to travel home with. It resulted in a nice library of books there in the cottage in Maine, waiting for our annual visit, inviting us to revisit books we had enjoyed a year or two before. The comic books are a big part of travel reading still for me - Foxtrot, Pearls before Swine, Zits - as are magazines.
There is nothing more comforting than traditions. We embrace them, build on them, and hand them down to the next generation. I am sure my kids will just assume that they need to stock up on books for a trip with their future families. This time of year, I see many families coming onto the bookmobile to stock up for their trips. More movies than books nowadays, but maybe that is part of that family's traditions. As long as they think of including the library, I won't quibble.
Book: Family traditions, by Gretchen Super
Book: Traveling with children and enjoying it, by Arlene Kay Butler
Movie: National Lampoon's vacation
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
A celebration
It came as a surprise to us here at the bookmobile to realize that it has already been 5 years since we changed our name from the Bookmobile to Mobile Library Services. 5 years! To think that back around that time, there was real concern that the program would be ending. When Allegheny County decided that they could no longer afford to be in the 'library business', the future looked pretty dim.
The future just ended up looking different: different focus for the service, different model for funding, and a different staff. I won't go over the details again - it is a story that has been told many times - but I know that there were many in the county that couldn't imagine that the bookmobile could survive all the changes.
I'm delighted to say we survived and thrived, thanks to a great, hardworking staff of dedicated people and the support of the great libraries here in Allegheny County. We continue to provide high quality services, we visit nearly 100 locations around the county each month, and bring the library to thousands of county residents 6 days a week.
So we thought it appropriate to celebrate our success, and most importantly, celebrate the people who rely on the bookmobile for their library. We call it our 5th (plus 50) Anniversary Celebration. These past 5 years have built on the solid foundation of 50 years of service in Allegheny County and we are looking to current and past users and staff to share their reminiscences and experiences. We are planning a scrapbook of everything we gather, something solid to house what is so ephemeral, our memories. We will have an online copy too.
Please take a moment and jot down what makes the bookmobile special to you, your family, your community. Have a funny story? Share it! Have an old photo of the bookmobile or a visit on board? Share it! Have you been coming to the bookmobile since you were little and now bring your kids? Tell us about it! Do you now bring your mom and dad? I know some of you that do - share the story! Did you used to work for the bookmobile? Share one of those great stories that have been passed down from bookmobile staff generation to generation. Do your kids - or you - love to draw? Draw us your image of the bookmobile! You are only limited by your imagination - we are ready for just about anything: poems, drawings, video, posters, photos, letters, anecdotes and so on and so on.
Get all your great memories down on paper or cd and to us by July 31st - of course we will be thrilled to get your input any time. Ask your bookmobile librarian for further information.
I know I am looking forward to what you all have to say!
Book: In search of our ancestors: 101 inspiring stories of serendipity and connection in discovering our family history, compiled by Megan Smolenyak
Book: Creating junior genealogists: tips and activities for family history fun, by Karen Frisch
Book: 601 great scrapbook ideas, by editors of Memory Makers Books
DVD: Heritage album tips and techniques
Movie: Joy luck club
Movie: Avalon
The future just ended up looking different: different focus for the service, different model for funding, and a different staff. I won't go over the details again - it is a story that has been told many times - but I know that there were many in the county that couldn't imagine that the bookmobile could survive all the changes.
I'm delighted to say we survived and thrived, thanks to a great, hardworking staff of dedicated people and the support of the great libraries here in Allegheny County. We continue to provide high quality services, we visit nearly 100 locations around the county each month, and bring the library to thousands of county residents 6 days a week.
So we thought it appropriate to celebrate our success, and most importantly, celebrate the people who rely on the bookmobile for their library. We call it our 5th (plus 50) Anniversary Celebration. These past 5 years have built on the solid foundation of 50 years of service in Allegheny County and we are looking to current and past users and staff to share their reminiscences and experiences. We are planning a scrapbook of everything we gather, something solid to house what is so ephemeral, our memories. We will have an online copy too.
Please take a moment and jot down what makes the bookmobile special to you, your family, your community. Have a funny story? Share it! Have an old photo of the bookmobile or a visit on board? Share it! Have you been coming to the bookmobile since you were little and now bring your kids? Tell us about it! Do you now bring your mom and dad? I know some of you that do - share the story! Did you used to work for the bookmobile? Share one of those great stories that have been passed down from bookmobile staff generation to generation. Do your kids - or you - love to draw? Draw us your image of the bookmobile! You are only limited by your imagination - we are ready for just about anything: poems, drawings, video, posters, photos, letters, anecdotes and so on and so on.
Get all your great memories down on paper or cd and to us by July 31st - of course we will be thrilled to get your input any time. Ask your bookmobile librarian for further information.
I know I am looking forward to what you all have to say!
Book: In search of our ancestors: 101 inspiring stories of serendipity and connection in discovering our family history, compiled by Megan Smolenyak
Book: Creating junior genealogists: tips and activities for family history fun, by Karen Frisch
Book: 601 great scrapbook ideas, by editors of Memory Makers Books
DVD: Heritage album tips and techniques
Movie: Joy luck club
Movie: Avalon
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