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Old 09-07-2021, 05:34 AM   #1
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Trailer into a Library

A bookstore owner in Maine is renovating a camper to promote reading by creating a mobile library to bring books to rural communities and “really be a champion of literacy in rural areas.”

The intention is to establish regular routes and stops in what the owner calls “book deserts” – a place that doesn’t have any access to books such as areas not near a library or bookstore.

The renovated camper (hopefully ready by October) will be filled with donated books and given to children in grades K-12 with an emphasis on younger ages.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/popove...b95&appid=3533
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Old 09-07-2021, 06:33 AM   #2
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Name: K Ann
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Wonderful!

I'm considering similar possibilities for my '78 Scamp. What a wonderful endeavor.
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Old 09-07-2021, 06:44 AM   #3
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Hope they’ll watch the weight. Books are heavy. My wife worked for First Things First doing early literacy outreach with preschoolers and their families. Gave away a lot of books to at-risk kids. She loved that job. I provided muscle to load and unload boxes of books.

The cute factor of the egg trailer should pique kids’ interest.
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Old 09-07-2021, 06:54 AM   #4
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Wise Words. :o)

I hadn't thought about the weight of the books. Your advice is very appreciated. If I ever get to the point of doing this kind of outreach, I'll definitely limit how many boxes of books I load up.

Thanks for sharing your happy memories with us.
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Old 09-07-2021, 07:40 AM   #5
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While it isn't mobile any more, at the Long Term Visitor area at Imperial Dam, CA, the "Liberry" (that is how they spell it) is an old Airstream:
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Old 09-07-2021, 02:39 PM   #6
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That is so cool!

Thanks for the pictures. I would be so happy to come across the Liberry in my travels.
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Old 09-07-2021, 09:16 PM   #7
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Name: Dave
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When I grew up our city had a Bookmobile. It was the size of a big Winnebago. It came to our neighborhood every week or two weeks. We checked out books and used it regularly.

My dad worked at a Standard Oil station and serviced AAA members. One night in the middle of the winter the bookmobile, which had been heated and lit with a “shore power” hookup, would not start. We had a 1960 short jeep, four cylinder, with heavy tires, a push bumper, and low range, lockout front axles. The driver called my dad from the pay phone at the grocery on the corner across the street. Dad stopped at the house and picked me up and we went down to Lincoln school to get the Bookmobile started. Dad got behind the motorized library. It was heavy. My dad bumped the rear bumper about four of five times and then timed the next contact with a healthy dose of clutch and the engine sounding like an angry hive of bees. He pushed that bookmobile about a block and half, the driver dumped the clutch and the engine started. At that time most push starts cost about $3.00. The driver stopped, engine running, and dad went in the door to settle up. The guy says, “We need a new battery but nobody has one. The guy yesterday charged $15 to start me, how does that sound? My dad had him sign the ticket with the AAA Card number and he scheduled the rolling library for a new battery in the morning. Then we drove the two blocks home and dad had a toddy and a good feeling at the end of a long day.

I loved starting cars in the winter, learning to push snow, pulling cars out of ditches and snow banks. Books really weigh up.
A boyhood memory from:
Iowa Dave
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Old 09-08-2021, 06:06 AM   #8
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Name: K Ann
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What a great guy your Dad was.

Thanks for sharing that memory. How low does one have to be to stiff a Bookmobile? Good grief.

Thank goodness for people like your Dad who keep the world ticking along.
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Old 09-08-2021, 07:38 AM   #9
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Another day, more memories about my dad and his love for push starting Sprint cars in the 1950s and 60s
His favorite driver: Jerry Richert Sr. “The Rim Riding Golden Gopher” out of Minnesota.
I grew up with every day contact with World War II veterans and that contact rubbed off as “you can do about anything if you put your mind and hard work to it.
My Dad’s best friend was a fire fighter. He often mentioned his time in the Navy and the solutions they came up with to problems. He never mentioned that those problems came up on the “Indianapolis”. I did not learn this till years after he passed.
I had the wonderful fortune to have a father who was a European theatre veteran and a mother who came from subsistence farming, inspected aircraft parts during the war and worked till she was 85 years old.
Truly the greatest generation.
Iowa Dave
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Old 09-11-2021, 10:10 AM   #10
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This is so perfect.

The trailer is the one place where my family will actually read books (even if the campsite does have wifi)!
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Old 09-11-2021, 10:28 AM   #11
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A couple of books on the history of bookmobiles in America

Greetings. First off, a big thank you for this topic and the info and adorable trailer pic. There is a long history of bookmobiles in the US and lots of great books, fiction, non-fiction, adult level and kids level out there. Two really nice histories are "Libraries on wheels: Mary Lemist and America's First Bookmobile" by Sharlee Glenn, 2018, and "Bookmobiles in America" by Orty Ortwein, 2015.
Thank you so much for sharing this story and for the other stories and information everyone else contributed.
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Old 09-13-2021, 06:09 PM   #12
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Bookmobiles are still in existence. They are pretty hefty looking vehicles. But what I loved growing up was books by mail. We lived out in the sticks and I could go through a catalogue, drop a card in the mail, and then a bag full of books would arrive a couple days later. I've always been a bookaholic.

Got a bunch downloaded on my kindle for the upcoming trip.
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Old 09-15-2021, 06:29 AM   #13
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Trailer into a Library

Quote:
Originally Posted by TomMarti View Post
A bookstore owner in Maine is renovating a camper to promote reading by creating a mobile library to bring books to rural communities and “really be a champion of literacy in rural areas.”

The intention is to establish regular routes and stops in what the owner calls “book deserts” – a place that doesn’t have any access to books such as areas not near a library or bookstore.

The renovated camper (hopefully ready by October) will be filled with donated books and given to children in grades K-12 with an emphasis on younger ages.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/popove...b95&appid=3533
Reading your post about a fiberglass trailer made into a library, my first reaction was skepticism that it could be pulled off. Books are very heavy and I think you would quickly overload the frame and suspension system of the light-weight fiberglass trailer, which was designed to carry it's own weight and a few hundred pounds more to account for people and they typical things people carry on a camping trip, while maintaining safe handling and braking. The Airstream trailer shown, which Airstreams are really over-built, I think would also be un-towable, due to all the books with a lot of weight up high due to the bookshelves added along the ceiling. Bookmobiles that roamed my neighborhood as a kid were special-built heavy-duty trucks that ended up at their maximum load limit. I remember reading about a library built on on an American college campus years ago, where the architect forgot to factor in the weight of the books into his design - the library started sinking immediately!
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