Celebrate National Bookmobile Day

"No better method has ever been devised for reaching the dweller in the country. The book goes to the man, not waiting for the man to come to the book." - Mary Lemist Titcom, creator of the first bookmobile.

Hurray for bookmobiles !!

It's hard to imagine not loving them. What a great idea - a library that comes to YOU!

National Bookmobile Day is Wednesday, April 13. Bookmobile lovers, this is the day to show your support! Thank your bookmobile staff, write a letter to your library, or better yet voice your support for bookmobiles to community leaders.

"Libraries exist to serve readers, and bookmobiles are a terrific example of library service. If you are very old or very young, if you live off the beaten track, if you just can't make it to your local library, bookmobiles are for you. A good bookmobile warms the cockles of my heart; it is a movable community, bringing books to the readers."                            - Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffeneger is a library supporter, artist, acclaimed author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Her Fearful Symmetry, the illustrated novel The Night Bookmobile and the Honorary Chair for National Bookmobile Day 2011. Learn more about her work.

There are some great images of vintage bookmobiles in this video, created by Rose Hulig.

W. Ralph Eubanks, featured in the video above, is an acclaimed author and director of publishing for the Library of Congress.  He grew up in rural Mississippi in the mid-1960s, and the bookmobile played a pivotal role in his life. At that time, the public library was closed to blacks—but the bookmobile stopped right on his street, a portal into the world of literature.

“In contrast to the summer heat in south Mississippi, the bookmobile was frigid inside,” remembers Eubanks. “The librarians did not care that I was barefoot, and wearing a pair of raggedy shorts. All they cared about was that I wanted to read—and to help me find something I would enjoy reading.”

Learn more about W. Ralph Eubanks and bookmobiles in this great article, "Long Overdue, the Bookmobile Is Back," by Jeff Greenwald at Smithsonian.com.

A Bit of History About Bookmobiles

The first bookmobile service in the U.S. was started in 1905 by Mary Lemist Titcomb in Washington County, Maryland. Titcomb, the first librarian of the Washington County Free Library, was concerned from the start that the library was not reaching all of the people it could, that to be a county library, as the name implied, it should reach everyone in the county. Deposit collections were set up in stores, homes, postoffice and Sunday schools throughout the county, beginning in November of 1901.

Unsatisfied by this, Titcomb sought to create what she referred to as a “Library Wagon” and began consulting with wagon makers to design a purpose-built horse-drawn wagon. Staffed by a librarian and a driver, the new Library Wagon (pictured at left with Mr. Thomas, the driver, 1905-1910) began its service, visiting farms and homes across the county. In 1912, the county acquired its first motorized bookmobile, and the service over time has been expanded from rural service to stops at senior citizen centers, schools, and other locations, and continues to present day.

New "book wagons" are being put into operation every year.  Check out the Parade of Bookmobiles at the 2009 ALA convention!

Interesting to note that, although horse-drawn bookmobiles are a relic of the past in this country, animals are still used to deliver library service in other parts of the world.  A Colombian schoolteacher straps book bags to a donkey he calls a biblioburro and travels into the countryside to lend books to eager young readers, and there's the Camel Bookmobile in Kenya.

Last, but not least, check out these pictures of a vintage 1950's bookmobile toy. They're just beautiful. 

Bookmobiles are the coolest!

National Bookmobile Day is coordinated by the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (ABOS), the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS), and the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL).