Bookmobiles!

Since I'm here under the aegis of Mobile Services (where I'm a CLA), and because I'm also a member of the OLOS Subcommittee on Bookmobiles, I've been trying to attend as much bookmobile/mobile library related events as possible while I'm here. Actually, the best part about coming to conferences like this is the fact that I get to meet people doing similar services from all over the country. This is really important, because being in a service that is unique within SPL means that I don't get a lot of opportunities to network and share ideas with others in similar positions.

Thankfully, there have been tons of interesting mobile library events at this year's conference. (I believe this is mainly due to the aforementioned Subcommittee on Bookmobiles, which is in its second year and is doing a bang-up job at planning conference programs.) The highlight was a well-attended morning session yesterday featuring Masha Hamilton, author of The Camel Bookmobile, a novel about a traveling library service that takes books to rural areas of Kenya by camel four days a week. Hamilton spoke about her visit to Kenya to see this service in action, and talked about the incredible excitement expressed by library patrons for whom this may be their only way of reading books.

The session's other speaker was Janice Ridgeway of the Cleveland Public Library, who gave an inspiring talk about innovation and partnering between mobile services/outreach programs and other community organizations, as well as other units of the library. Many of her suggestions were applicable more broadly to any library service—thinking creatively; being politically savvy; basing innovations and partnerships on causes and needs rather than one-time events; and getting to know your community and your library intimately—but she stressed the particular importance of this approach for outreach programs.

Ridgeway described outreach librarians as "the rebels of the profession," and talked about how bookmobiles in Cleveland have responded innovatively to community needs. For example, the home foreclosure crisis is hitting Cleveland hard: many public school buses have had to reroute to homeless shelters in order to pick up the large number of kids who have moved there. The bookmobile has followed suit, delivering books to shelters, but she pointed out the need for the library to adjust policies accordingly: residents are still required to show proof of a permanent address in order to get a library card, which is closing off access to a larger and larger segment of the population. Libraries need to be more flexible in adapting to new situations, and allow room for creative thinking, she said, adding "We need renegades!"

After this talk I attended a roundtable discussion about the huge variety of options for Mobile Services programs. The facilitator of this discussion, Everett Public Library's Theresa Gemmer, echoed Ridgeway's point about mobile library programs being some of the most innovative units of a library. Bookmobiles were the first to go to shelters in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and have been used in many communities to provide a temporary library site when libraries are damaged in disasters or closed for renovation. "The options are only limited by what you can think of doing," she said.

With this in mind, the roundtable participants shared some of the interesting things they are trying in their programs, including distributing uncatalogued reading material and medical information to hospital waiting rooms, and providing all kinds of early literacy programming. I shared some of the exciting things SPL Mobile Services is doing, including our early literacy programs in which our children's librarian invites families from the child care centers we visit to come to their neighborhood branch libraries; our home service program; our lobby stops&emdash;where we bring carts of materials into retirement homes and senior housing; and our targeted Russian service, where we work with a Russian language librarian to deliver books to Russian immigrant communities in Seattle. It was exciting to hear about what other programs are trying, and also to share the work of our Mobile Services program.

To further this spirit of communication and collaboration, I have been working with the Subcommittee on Bookmobiles to develop and maintain a bookmobile wiki, which bookmobilers can share information about guidelines, services, vendors, and other ideas. I'm looking forward to continuing to add content to this wiki, and to encourage broader participation so it can be a truly collaborative effort.

Finally, in the afternoon there was a parade of bookmobiles, during which ten bookmobiles from around California drove around the Convention Center and parked so we could tour them. This was really interesting, and I will post pictures and video as soon as I get a chance. There was a wide variety of vehicles to match different kinds of services, from Anaheim Public Library's tractor trailer (!) to Lewis Library's (in Fontana, CA) children's bookmobile that had almost no bookshelves but consisted almost entirely of seating space for storytimes. It was great to tour the different vehicles and to talk to other bookmobile staff about what they do with them.

So my head is full now of new ideas for bookmobiles, and I'm excited to bring them back to SPL with me.

Update #1: The Bookmobile parade was featured in yesterday's Orange County Register article about the conference.

Update #2: If you click the "more photos" button on the Orange County Register article, and scroll to photo #3, you will see a photo of "man" taking pictures of the parade. That "man" is yours truly. Fame!