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Bookmobiles
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Bookmobiles
11:01 AM EDT 9/21/06
We are working on a new five year plan, 2007-2012. Our bookmobile (our 4th!) has 97,000+ miles on it. We know that it will probably die (or become very ill!) during the coming five years. We have priced bookmobiles. We are brainstorming about fallback positions if we're not able to afford a new bookmobile, even spaced over several fiscal years. Ideas so far are - second hand bookmobiles (e-Bay!), smaller (than our current 22' ) vehicles which allow for limited selection (does anyone have one of these already?!). We already have a van to deliver boxes of requested materials, books by mail, and homebound service, but there is much greater use of the bookmobile than these other services, and our % of patrons who are children is largest on our bookmobile than at any of our 5 library locations. Anyone want to help us puzzle out what an alternate to a bookmobile could be, and have the same use/popularity/efficiency? Also, is there any guide to help us make hard choices, such as,"If there are fewer than x patrons or x circulation (as a % of our total use, or as hard numbers), you can't really justify a bookmobile"? Thanks! We live in the Shenandoah Valley so have many country roads and little towns and hills and dales. Ours is a very personal service, with grateful isolated patrons bringing in homegrown veges and homemade treats for this very much appreciated service. Over the years our county supervisors seem to like this service which goes outside the bigger population centers and into the towns in their own districts. I don't even like to think about trying to find an alternate to bookmobile service when this bookmobile passes away. But I admit I'm an old dog now, myself. LindaKrantz
Re: Bookmobiles
12:51 AM EDT 10/13/06 as a reply to Linda Krantz.
We are a small library district in SW Colorado. Pagosa Springs in the largest town in the district and we are the only library. Unless the voters approve a 1.5 mill levy increase in November, we will not be in a position to even think about a bookmobile. If the mill levy doesn't pass, we would like to start mailing books to our patrons in outlying areas of the county. The idea of your van also sounds interesting and not as expensive as purchasing a bookmobile, even if it is used. I would like to hear more about how your books by mail and van delivery work. I would like to know how your patrons request their books, which delivery method works better; mail or van delivery, and course the cost to the library. I look forward to hearing from you.
Re: Bookmobiles
1:11 PM EDT 10/13/06 as a reply to Jackie Welch.
Hi and welcome to both of you! emoticon

I have this nostalgic romantic notion about bookmobiles. Even though I grew up in the city, we had a bookmobile visit out grade school regularly. It was always a special day, like a field trip. There was something so enticing about climbing into the big vehicle and being intimately surrounded by books, like a playhouse of learning or something. I think it's the bookmobile's interior environment that offers more than just a delivery van ever could. Stll, a van is better than nothing for reaching isolated communites

I hope you can find a way to continue (and start!) the services. I'd love to hear from others who have bookmobile service and how it works for them. I know that some of them are equipped with computers and even with Internet connections where possible.
Re: Bookmobiles
8:25 PM EST 2/11/08 as a reply to Betha Gutsche.
I don't know how we would operate without our bookmobile. They did 52,000 in circ and all of the schools in our district really depend on it. We put 16,000 in savings every year for a new and and have started to look.