The Relevance of Bookmobiles and Mobile Libraries in 2018

The Relevance of Bookmobiles and Mobile Libraries in 2018

• “Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services provide a place for rural or remote communities to gather. People enjoy coming together to commune. By acting as a place for human connection, bookmobiles proffer a community to connect with each other, share stories, and be a social gathering place. This is especially important in rural, isolated places where the opportunity to connect with others is limited.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services provide rural and remote patrons with the same one-on-one services offered in brick and mortar libraries. Even with the advent of the Internet, the immense popularity of e-books and online library services, human interaction and instruction remains the greatest form of customer service. The human animal yearns for physical connection over digital abstraction.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services provide access to technology. In many rural or impoverished communities, technology may be spotty, outdated, or even nonexistent. Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services provide access to technology in the form of hardware, hotspots, Wi-Fi, iPads, laptops, and/or software to name a few. Recently, Patti, the BPL’s Bookmobile Librarian, shared a story of how a child, who had recently received a robot for his birthday, used the bookmobile’s laptop computer to update the robot’s software because the computer he had at home was unable to support the robot’s software.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services help to supplement rural schools through its collection, technology, personnel expertise, and services. Many rural schools have a limited library. In some cases, rural schools served by the BPL do not have a school librarian or are severely hampered by budget restrictions. Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services allow for these rural schools to use the public library’s collection to enhance education, spread the joy or reading, increase access and exposure to technology, and install the love of life-long learning.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services provide access to information about the plethora of other aspects and services a library provides to a community. Information about adult programs, children’s programs, teen programs, and special events is easily shared to those without access to the Internet or a library’s website. Additionally, in some cases, programming conducted at the brick and mortar library can be altered in order to be shared at these rural or remote locations.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services have access to the library’s entire collection of resources. Although a bookmobile or mobile outreach service vehicle may be limited to the number of titles on hand, or the type of technology equipped on the vehicle, they have the capacity to bring these resources to rural or remote patrons. By developing relationships with rural or remote patrons, and by understanding the needs of these patrons, bookmobiles and mobile outreach services can customize or curate specific collections for patrons.
• Bookmobiles and mobile outreach services create relationships and promote inclusivity. Patrons who are unable to access a brick and mortar library can sometimes feel as if they are excluded from library services. By creating relationships, and thus striving for inclusivity, libraries are able to better understand the needs of a rural population, incorporate their voice within strategic planning, increase program development, increase access and exposure to technology, and ensure quality service to all.”

Stephen