By Khalida Sarwari
It’s white, yellow, green and blue and starting next month, Santa Clara County Library District’s new bookmobile will be heading down area freeways bringing library resources to residents.
The new vehicle, wrapped in a colorful and playful design and featuring fun graphics, will serve as a “library on wheels,” delivering materials twice a month to 45 different locations throughout the county.
Residents can look for this new bookmobile and a smaller model at schools, senior facilities, remote locations, neighborhoods and companies throughout the county. In Saratoga, the truck will make stops at places such as Scribbles & Giggles Day Health and the Saratoga Retirement Community and Fellowship Plaza.
Along the back, the truck bears an inscription in English and Spanish: “Bringing the library to you, free!” And as promised, the bookmobile is stocked with everything one can find at a physical library, from books, to audiobooks, magazines, e-resources, DVDs, CDs and video games. Most of these items will be available for check out and whatever they don’t have in stock, residents can request.
“We have a great collection,” said Amytha Willard, an interim supervising librarian of bookmobile services at the library district. “I like to say we have something for everyone.”
The bookmobile owes its distinctive features to LDV Inc., a Wisconsin-based specialty vehicle company. Not only is it about 30 percent larger than the previous model, making it capable of carrying a little more than 300 additional items on each run, but it boasts solar panels, a lift in the back for heavy loads or wheelchair accessibility and an activity wall for kids.
All of this came at a cost of about $270,000, said Willard, from the library district’s bookmobile department budget.
The truck replaces a previous model in use since 2003 that was recently decommissioned by the county because it became too costly to repair, she said.
The bookmobile endeavors to benefit all library district residents, especially those who have difficulty visiting a library, such as residents with mobility or time limitations and those who don’t have easy access to public transportation. The library district estimates that of the nearly 1.8 million people who live in the county, more than 95,000 live in the unincorporated, often remote locations with limited access to a library.
“The main purpose of the bookmobile is to provide access to these materials, to provide the same type of service that you would get at a library, but to those who are unable to get it,” said Willard. “We’ve had seniors tell us, ‘I can’t get to the library; I don’t have anyone to drive me.’ So it’s really great to be able to show people, here’s how you can use the library.”
The service also benefits library staff as they develop personal relationships with the people they serve. “We just love going,” Willard said.
More information about the SCCLD bookmobile services is available at sccl.org/locations/bookmobile/about.
