The History of Mobile Libraries
A mobile library is any kind of vehicle that takes books and other library items to people. This vehicle could be anything from a railroad car to an automobile to the canvas bags a volunteer uses to hand deliver books to a shut-in. The most common mobile library is the bookmobile.
Other People Are Reading
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The First Book Wagon
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Mary Titcomb was the founder of the first book wagon for the Washington County Free Library in Maryland in 1905. It had shelves on the outside, storage in the middle and was pulled by two horses. The book wagon was driven by custodian Joshua Thomas, who also dispensed the books.
Bookmobiles Were Popular Once
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In a recent article in The Boston Globe, Thomas Moroney of Moroney Monolite Bookmobiles states that bookmobiles are falling out of favor. In the 1950s, his company made a new bookmobile every eight weeks. The company today makes only a few each year and have have had to expand their operation to ambulance and dump truck manufacturing. Rising gasoline prices and the growth of the Internet are usually cited for this change.
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Bookmobile Patrons
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Bookmobiles traditionally serve rural audiences, but also serve communities that have had library budget cutbacks and special populations such as senior citizens, children, military personnel and people with disabilities.
New Orleans
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New Orleans has been using bookmobiles because all of the libraries destroyed by Hurricane Katrina have yet to be rebuilt.
Mobile Libraries Today
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About 900 bookmobiles operate in the United States. Some of these are jalopies from the glory days of community bookmobile service and others are state-of-the-art vehicles offering traditional library services as well as access to technology.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Benjamin Chun: Flickr.com, San Jose Library: Flickr.com, montereypubliclibrary: Flickr.com
