ALA Celebrates National Bookmobile Day
The American Library Association (ALA) celebrates the first annual National Bookmobile Day today, as part of its National Library Week 2010 (April 11-17) festivities. For over a century, bookmobiles have provided outreach services to communities in rural, tribal and urban areas. As an integral part of library services throughout the county, bookmobiles have helped bring reading and educational materials to people of all classes and ages. Even today, these mobile units offer many of the same services as a traditional library branch, allowing people to check out books and DVDs, take classes, and access the internet. The ALA hopes this celebration will underscore the importance of bookmobiles and help expand their scope.
10 Engines blog credits the company, International Harvester, with building the first motorized bookmobile in the early 20th century, and features photos of several models, as well as examples of bookmobile advertisements targeting librarians. The Los Angeles Times website features a photo of “Little Toot”, the small bookmobile used by the Los Angeles Public Library until 1960, when it was traded in for a larger, more modern van. Today’s models are green vehicles that release cleaner emissions and use less fuel, they also help take more cars off the road by delivering educational resources straight to the community.
