When you can't make it to the library, let the library come to you.
Bookmobiles are still making their rounds and have a proud history in the Pittsburgh region, dating to 1952 when Allegheny County began providing services from Carnegie Library.
During the 1970s, Christine Spece of Natrona Heights was a fifth-grader with a voracious reading habit.
“I loved visiting our bookmobile that would park in Heights Plaza,” says Spece, now a real-estate agent. “I would check out books, and Natrona Heights didn't have a regular library back then, so having the bookmobile was important.”
Nowadays, the Allegheny County Library Association Mobile Library Services hits the road daily, providing library service to underserved or unserved residents of Allegheny County.
The ACLA comprises 45 independent public libraries throughout the county with more than 70 locations.
Currently, the ACLA mobile library services provides three kinds of services.
• General community service: Paid service contracted by local community government, libraries and schools.
• Preschool-Head Start service: Free to mainly low-lncome preschool and day-care facilities
• Senior service: Free to senior centers, independent-living and assisted-living facilities.
Charles Arrigo has served as operations manager for 15 years and drives some of the routes, providing library services to those not fortunate to live close to a library.
“We have senior citizens literally waiting for (the bookmobile) to arrive, because reading is their favorite activity,” Arrigo says. “And for our preschoolers that visit, it is their first exposure they have to a library. I couldn't imagine not being able to provide this valuable resource to them.”
The biggest change in the mobile library world is financial.
“Bookmobiles are not free anymore,” Arrigo says. “Changes in funding require the bookmobile services to be paid for by schools, libraries or a local community government.”
People's Library of New Kensington (peopleslibrary.org) added a bookmobile route in Westmoreland County in 2015, thanks to a grant from the Charitable Foundation.
“We received almost $5,000 and partnered with ACLA to provide bookmobile service in Allegheny Township,” says David Hrivnak, director at People's Library.
The bookmobile, loaded with more than 3,000 books, stops at the Giant Eagle at 51 Towne Center Drive from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. every other Saturday, offering all the regular services library patrons enjoy at brick-and-mortar libraries. The next scheduled visit is Nov. 7.
The bookmobile is modern, has high ceilings and provides DVD rentals, books, audio books, CDs and an online catalog for ordering items from libraries.
Items can be checked out for one to three weeks. The staff at any bookmobile can register a patron for a library card.
“We serve seven municipalities, and we don't have a big presence in Allegheny Township, so we are trying to use creative ways to build service,” Hrivnak says.
The 2015 grant money will be depleted soon, but People's Library is “optimistic and hopeful that funding will work out” so the bookmobile can return in 2016.
“The feedback from visitors has been positive, and we are trying to get the word out about our bookmobile,” Hrivnak says. “We have increased our library membership due to our bookmobile service.”
A mix of all ages, including parents, kids and grandparents have embraced the biweekly bookmobile.
In an age where libraries have witnessed a decline in members and participation, the convenience of a mobile library is apparent.
“The kids think its cool,” Hrivnak says. “It is free to get a library card and with all the social technology available, libraries have to adapt with changing demographics.”
Call 412-321-1835 to inquire about bookmobile service to a particular area.
Details: aclalibraries.org
Joyce Hanz is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
