NATIONAL BOOKMOBILE DAY!

Today is National Bookmobile Day! What a great source of library outreach. I've posted several photos of Bookmobiles before, but thought in honor of the day, I'd post a few more!

National Bookmobile Day celebrates our nation's bookmobiles and the dedicated library professionals who provide this valuable and essential service to their communities every day. We honor the access to information and resources our nation’s bookmobiles make available to our communities and the professionals who work diligently to provide these services. For more than 100 years bookmobiles have brought a library to those that otherwise may not have access to one.

The first American bookmobile was actually a wagon. Mary Titcomb, a Maryland librarian, recgonized that having books was only one part of the library’s job: the other part was making the books accessible. The Washington County Library Wagon took books around the county, making scheduled stops in addition to impromptu dispersals. This first “bookmobile” served until 1910, when it was hit by a train (no one was injured, though the fate of the books it was carrying is unknown).  

Read more about the history of American Bookmobiles at Book Riot.