Information About

Bookmobile




A bookmobile or '''mobile library''' is a large Vehicle designed for use as a Library . They are designed to hold books on shelves so that when the vehicle is parked the books can be accessed by readers. They usually have sufficient space that people can also sit and read books inside them. Mobile libraries are often used to provide library services to villages and city suburbs without library buildings. They also service those who have difficulty accessing libraries, with retirement homes being common stops. They may also carry other information or Computer equipment, such as might be found in a library. Some libraries also use their bookmobiles to deliver materials, such as audio books and large print novels, to homebound patrons who don't have anyone to go to the library for them.
- The Reading Rocket.]]

The first Bookmobile in the United States was developed by previously removed as unsubstantiated. The state archives carries no weight?/> (1857-1932). While employed at the Washington County, Maryland Free Library, Titcomb was concerned that the library was not reaching all of the people it could. So, she worked on a plan for a book wagon. In 1905 the Washington County Free Library provided the first book wagon in the nation to residents by taking the books directly to their homes in remote parts of the county. (Maryland State Archives, Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, Washington County Free Library)

The Gerstenslager company specialized in building mobile libraries and similar vehicles in the 1950s .


OTHER MOBILE LIBRARIES


Bookmobiles are used in many countries, but a mobile library can be run without a vehicle. Examples include:
  • A Camel Library Service in .

  • A Donkey-drawn Mobile Library in Zimbabwe [http://www.ifla.org/V/press/pr0225-02.htm Donkeys help provide Multi-media Library Services IFPlant Feb 2002] Accessed June 2007 is being used to not only deliver books, but also to deliver access to the internet and multimedia.




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