This week we have put together five interesting things about mobile libraries. While these aren’t necessarily new, some are definitely new to us. And others are just neat things that should be celebrated. We are always impressed by the important work that mobile libraries do – outreach, community building, digital equity and more.
The thing that really got us thinking about mobile libraries this week was reading about this recent international conference of mobile libraries held in Croatia. Look at all those mobile libraries together, a veritable omnibus of mobile libraries.
1. Despite the shift to 24/7 library services online and the increased costs of running mobile library vehicles, mobile libraries continue to help get books and other library services to people who aren’t near or can’t get to a library. Like this in Ourense, Galicia. Or the Mel-van in Melbourne, which helps provide access to digital collections and provides wifi and digital literacy support on the go. Also see the full list of impressive projects featured at the conference in this great writeup (Pdf)
The Weapons of Mass Instruction is a mobile library in Argentina created by artist Raul Lemesoff, made to look like a tank (but full of books).
There are also mobile makerspaces and other kinds of tech-labs on wheels that are managed by libraries to get services out to users.
2. Mobile libraries in Cambridgeshire give out NHS Hearing aid batteries, walking stick ferrules and more. We also incidentally learned what a walking stick ferrule is. via Cambliblife.
3. Mobile libraries in Lancashire have awesome names, including The Borrowers, Chitty Chitty Book Book, the Hardbacks of Notre Van, Great Transportations, Vroom with a View and Ride and Prejudice.
4. There’s a map of mobile libraries in the UK, with stops that you can explore by location. This is a Libraries Hacked project that brings together standardised data about stops, routes, and timetables of mobile libraries in the UK, allowing users to track their nearest mobile library.
5. Mobile libraries come in all shapes and sizes. And they are called quite a few different names too. Bookmobiles (unsurprisingly) seems to be the term of choice at the recent Bookmobile Festival in Croatia. Bookbus is common for ones that are reading-focused. Bibliobus also seems to be a popular term in some countries. Some are van-size, some are bus size and some are definitely erring on the side of a library truck.
Incidentally, this means that it’s always not easy to find images of mobile libraries online (particularly the inside of the library which is a shame). What to search for? Either the term has become confused with library phone apps or they are otherwise drowned out by non-descript book (or bus) images.
There are some nice photos here on the NSW libraries page of the Australia iteration of a library truck. And in this YouTube video from the Croatian Conference on Mobile Libraries you can see the Bibliobus takeover on the streets of Virovitica.