Then I had four children in five years. Going to the library became complicated. How do you balance a baby, diaper bag, watch the toddler, while helping the older two find a book? And forget visiting the adult section for a book for yourself.
I'm not comfortable allowing my children to roam free in the library. Once they are past the page ripping, book pulling, screeching-on-the-top-of-their-lungs stage, it doesn't get easier. I now have a voracious reader. Call me paranoid, but many (most) of the library's books are not fit to read. Even our small town library has a child's picture book promoting the "alternative lifestyle".
Since my children were small, I've been visiting used book sales, scarfing up the old favorites that libraries are discarding to build our own family library. If you walk into our house, there is no doubt that we love and read books. But still, it is fun to find new books, especially when researching a particular topic.
Since going to the library with four children was deemed impossible, Ed would sometimes pick up books for me at the library near his job. If I would search the library catalog online and write down the number, he could find the books I wanted over his lunch break. But this winter that library closed for renovations and I was left searching for another option.
My mom used to take us to the bookmobile. I decided to see if the bookmobile had a stop near me. It did! The bookmobile has been the perfect fit for our family.
The bookmobile is a bus that has been fitted with shelving. Our bookmobile route comes near us every other week. Other routes are once a month. Obviously the selection of books is limited. But with the limitation comes the freedom that I can't lose my children when there is no place for them to go!
I can't speak for every bookmobile but our librarian is very helpful. I access the library system catalog online at home at my leisure, sort through books from the libraries in two counties. I select the books I want and they bring them (almost to my door) the next time they visit my route. I get to come, pick up my pre-selected books, browse a little on the shelves, and depart before someone has a melt down.
The one disadvantage is the time constraint. The bookmobile is on a tight schedule and is only at my stop for about 20 minutes. If I can't make it at that time, I have to wait until the next visit. The up side is that they give long amounts of time to return the books and are very lenient on overdue books.
I don't know how many areas have a bookmobile. But I encourage you to check it out. If you are from my area, I already know that you have an excellent bookmobile available. Besides my tribe, there is only one other patron visiting the bookmobile at our stop. I can't believe it is worth their time and gas to come. On one of the last visits, I decided I would write about the bookmobile in hopes that a few more of you would utilize this service.
For some fun children's books about the bookmobile read Clara and the Book Wagon
, about the very first bookmobile which happened to be in my husband's home town, and That Book Woman
, a sweet story set in the mountains.Do any of you use the bookmobile? Or is this just a crazy thing that PA does?
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