Have you ever been inside of a bookmobile? A little library on wheels? Many years ago, I worked on a bookmobile. The challenges of working in a library on wheels are phenomenal, but the rewards are amazing. Taking books out to people who have no easy access to little libraries is a great honor. Ideas and thoughts that would otherwise be inaccessible available at their finger tips.
I live in a rural county, and bookmobile services are needed for the more remote parts of our county. Believe it or not, even in Central Maryland, the people who live in very rural areas can live an hour or more away from their closest county libraries. Our bookmobiles make the rounds of day care centers, senior centers, nursing homes, retirement facilities and makes stops in front of a couple of churches in the more remote corners of the county.
I loved my bookmobile days- out on the road, with the sun shining down on me and a truck full of books behind me, life was good. I was able to get out and meet people, pet the dogs, and usually picked up lunch from somebody somewhere who would come out and take my order when I pulled up, and then when I finished, I'd run in and pay and get my lunch. I don't know if you realize how wonderful people in this world there really are.
Having said that, the challenges of driving a bookmobile are numerous. You're driving basically an RV or delivery truck, and you are fully loaded with A LOT of books. Books are heavy. Bookmobiles can't pick up speed quickly, and they need a lot of space to stop. Cars behind will get antsy because you can't move fast (there's a particular hill I despised) and you don't go fast going up hills. They also will pull out in front of you unexpectedly. Remember what I was saying about stopping distance? Nothing worse than slamming on the brakes, hoping everything will stop in time, and hearing hundreds of books behind you fly off the shelves and hit the wall behind you.
I had a lot of memorable drives in my book mobile days:
1) The day I was driving out to one of the farthest reaches of the county when there suddenly was a "pop, BANG!" under the hood, followed by the issuance of a large quantity of white smoke as the engine cut out. I managed to pull the van off the road and landed amongst the trees in an apple orchard. I didn't have a cell phone with me, so I waited for over 20 minutes until a state trooper drove by, and stopped to help me. He stayed with me until the tow truck driver from the county came by to pick up the book mobile, and I was driven back to the library in the back of a squad car. Let me tell you, being escorted into the library by a state trooper was a never to be forgotten moment!
2) I drove into work one day, and the roads around our house were icy, icy, icy, However, my boss insisted that since schools were in session, I had to hit the road with the van. My scheduled run was back down to my neighborhood. As I hit the major intersection closest to my house - I attempted to stop the van as the light turned to red. I gently tapped the brakes, and the next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the intersection facing the direction from which I had come. As I gently extricated the van from the intersection and drove to my first stop, I was cursing under my breath. I arrived at my first stop to a stack of messages from my boss, who had realized 10 minutes after I left that the roads were too dangerous and she was attempting to call me back. The fact that I'd taken an extra 20 minutes to get to the first stop had given her the "flop sweats". Since I was already there, I finished out my first stop and then took almost an hour to make the 12 mile trip back to the office.
3) Our county purchased a brand new bookmobile, and I was one of the first ones to drive it. We were out on the northern stretches of roads in the county, where there are more cows than cars, learning to navigate the larger vehicle on our windy, curvy roads when all of a sudden, there was a "CRASH, BOOM", and the vehicle stopped working. The person driving (Not me!) pulled the vehicle off into an apple orchard on the side of the road. (Not the same one.) Fortunately, one of the whiz, bang features of the new book mobile was a two way radio that allowed us to call back to our boss in case if something went wrong. One little problem here. Our boss was with us. She was the one driving. Eventually, a state trooper came along, radioed county maintenance for help and then drove us all back to the library. Yep, he and one of his buddies put us into the back of two separate squad cars. Once again, we were escorted back into the library by a state trooper....
No matter what mishaps may have befallen while I was driving the van, getting to my stop made everything worthwhile. The seniors who couldn't drive were always thrilled to get out, mingle with their friends, and pick up their books. At the day care centers, the little ones would always get on with the biggest of eyes, the brightest of smiles, and the most joyous of expressions as they picked out new books. At the community stops, people of all ages would climb into the book mobile with smiles, handshakes, and hellos. Book Mobile day was a big day in town, and people would make a day of the event, running errands and stopping for books.
The link to the salute to the mobile library branches that the American Library Association posted this morning to their Facebook page: Rolling Library Thunder
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