Last year, right around this time, I wrote about my childhood love of the Bookmobile in this post. For a young girl who loved reading, the Bookmobile was a source of wonder. It traveled all over the city and once a week it arrived in the parking lot of my elementary school, which happened to be two blocks from my home. I would walk there, sometimes alone, sometimes with my mom, and eagerly await my opportunity to climb those steps and enter a magical world of books on wheels.
At the time I wrote that post, I searched and searched for photos of a Bookmobile that would look like the one I remembered and I couldn’t find any. So I used a photo of books on shelves.
I belong to a group on Facebook that is all about growing up in my hometown of Dearborn, Michigan. I’m continually amazed at all the memories we share and the details some of my fellow Dearbornites remember about certain places or events. It makes me very nostalgic. Lo and behold, there was a post recently about our hometown Bookmobile – with pictures. These are from the year 1949 (before my time) when Dearborn first acquired its Bookmobile.
(Photos courtesy of the Dearborn Historical Society.)
Ah, there it is! Two of our schools were named after Clara Snow and Edgar Bryant, by the way. These were big names in our community. The Bookmobile is brand, spanking new in this picture. Imagine how excited everyone must have been! A library on wheels, ready to travel all over the city, giving everyone a chance to read and check out books.
Do you remember getting your first library card? Oh my. I distinctly remember what mine looked like.
How wonderful it must have been for these kids when the Bookmobile first made an appearance. A traveling library? How cool!
I love these photos. I remember the pattern on that linoleum floor. I remember what it looked like when it was wet from the constant traffic of snow booted kids, I remember kneeling down to grab books on that bottom shelf. I remember the cool driver’s seat that turned and became the librarian’s chair and the neat counter that lifted up and out of the way if the librarian needed to come out and help us find something.
I truly thought that would be the most wondrous job in the world. I wanted to drive that bookmobile and sit behind that desk. What’s not to love? You’d get to be around books all the time, never be in the same place two days in a row, sit behind a counter and stamp the inside cover of books with the due date. You’d get to run your own magical mobile library. I wanted to be that librarian.
I spent many hours in the Bookmobile. Eventually, as I got older, I graduated to our Main Library and then to the newly constructed Centennial Library, leaving behind my Bookmobile days. Did I realize that it would eventually become a sort of dinosaur? Of course not. I still can’t imagine it.
Wouldn’t it be great to salvage a Bookmobile, restore it and use it as your home library? You could add a cozy chair or two and when you wanted to read in peace, you could leave your home, walk a few steps to the now restored Bookmobile, and retreat to your own personal library. Oh boy! I’d rather have that than a trailer-turned-creative-space.
I want my very own Bookmobile.
I seem to remember from the comments on my previous post that there are still Bookmobiles out there. Gosh, I hope so. I realize that there are all sorts of digital opportunities for reading nowadays. But how can that compete with getting your first library card, climbing those steps and entering a world of three-dimensional books? With holding a book in your hand, skimming the first page, wondering whether this book is worthy of being included in your pile of books for that week? How can that compete with turning the pages as you launch into another fictional adventure?
I’m so grateful for all of that. The Bookmobile in our town was a pivotal part of my childhood. These photos make me nostalgic for another time and place. They make me smile.
Did you have a Bookmobile in your hometown? Do you remember getting your first library card?
Happy Tuesday.
Oh how I loved the bookmobile. I was a child in the late 50’s and would ride my bike to where it stopped and fill the basket of my bike with wonderous books. I used to think I could. Read every single book they had inside. Such a great memory over coffee this morning.
I understand – I used to think “How will I have enough time in my life to read all the books I want to read?”
How wonderful that you found that photo!!!! Our county here in Indiana still has a book mobile. It is really big. Like a semi trailer size bus. I’ve never gone in it,but I should just to say I did. The library is easily accessible to me. I would love to know how old the ladies are in the photo you shared. Styles have changed so much and with their hairstyles and clothing, it is hard to tell their ages. What a silly thing to be curious about, huh?
Oh how cool! I wish there was a Bookmobile around here. I bet those ladies aren’t as old as they appear to be – I think ladies looked older than they were at that time.
Did you get my email, Rachel?
http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/bookmobile/
Take a look they still have them in Chicago
Yay! Thanks for the link, Cindy.
Those bookmobile days are an important part of my childhood as well. I found a photo of a bookmobile similar to ours online. What wonderful memories I have of waiting until Thursday afternoon, riding my bike, along with my neighbor and friend Susan to the “Purity” grocery parking lot then climbing the steps, and feeling the cool comfort of the bookmobile. We’d load up on stories about horses, Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Jane Eyre, Nancy Drew mysteries and the likes. We’d then set off for home and spend the remainder of the afternoon deep within the pages of our chosen books. I can still remember the smell of our bookmobile, always shiny and clean with the friendly librarian perched in the chair, waiting for us to decide which books to take with us. I still love to sit and spend time in our public library…I can sit for hours, especially now that you can buy a cup of coffee and sip while you read.
I live in a small city in North Dakota and we do, indeed, have a Bookmobile that travels to the small towns within our county. I’ll have to track it down and post a photo of it.
Thanks again for sharing your Bookmobile memory Claudia,
What happy times :)
Lori
Oh, another place that still has a Bookmobile! I’m jealous!
I have always loved to read. I don’t remember a book mobile or my first library card but I do remember bringing books home from the school library. Also, we mainly shopped at thrift stores and I was allowed to pick out a book or two each time we went. I still love thrift stores and I always look at the books when I go. One summer my dad caught me reading True Confession magazines with a neighbor girl that she took from her mother. He immediately went downtown to the Oklahoma City Library and brought home the best books for me to read each week.. My mother never drove and we lived on the outskirts of town so we pretty much stayed around home. I always felt special that my dad took time to keep me supplied with books. As I think about it now there was probably a librarian that chose age appropriate books for me but I loved every one I read. We don’t have a book mobile in our area now but our local library has a rotating collection from the state library that I always check out first.
That was so wonderful of your father, Claudia. He knew the right thing to do. Love that story.
We didn’t have a bookmobile but we had a public library, upstairs, down a dark hallway, over a bank building. I love me a library! I have a Nexus 7 and several books downloaded on it. I have read one of them. I prefer holding the book, smelling the ink and turning the pages to find the excitement building there. old time libraries had a special smell to them. I can recall the smell in my old books on my shelf. nothing beats a good book and favorite authors. Read on!! electronic devices are artificial and don’t connect with me on a personal level. it’s hard to lose yourself in a nexus tablet.
I have a Nook that I never use, Carol. I love books!
The first thing I do when I get a new book is to open up in the middle and take a deep breath. Ahhhh – nothing like it. My family calls me The Book Snorter. But I know I’ll always do it. I’ll always remember how our town library smelled when I was a little kid too. To this five-year old it was a magical place.
We didn’t have a bookmobile, but we had a wonderful library that was a bus ride away. I can remember being a small girl…allowed to ride the bus alone….to the library in town. I was given a time that I had to catch the bus back home and always came home, lugging a stack of books, so heavy for a little girl. In those days we were safe…and the bus drivers looked after us and let us off at the right stop. That would be unheard of today.
Whenever I have moved, I have checked to see if the town had a library. Very important to me still.
Balisha
Those times seemed much safer to me, Balisha. We could disappear for hours and our parents wouldn’t worry about us. I miss that.
We still have a bookmobile in my area, how it works now is you order what you want online and pick up or drop off at the mobile.
Oh, that’s interesting, Dawn! Sort of high tech meets retro. I like that!
We didn’t have a Bookmobile where I grew up, but we did have THE Best library ever. It is now a historical museum. The building is a small old brick building, surrounded with windows, and lots of little rooms to divide the categories of book. If you needed reference materials you needed to go to the basement. I learned the Dewey Decimal System at the library.
My area today still has a Bookmobile. I have used it a few times. They have tried to shut it down due to cut-backs (of course), but the Native American tribe has always pulled through for all of us and donated the necessary funding,.
Where would we be today without libraries and Bookmobiles? I don’t even want to know.
I loved the Dewey Decimal System, Trudy. I miss card catalogs that you could flip through, searching for a book or a subject matter. So glad you still have a Bookmobile in your neck of the woods.
Hi Claudia!! Our town had a wonderful library that I often visited. I was within walking distance so I spent many days there searching for books such as Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, The Bobbsey Twins!. I loved to go there with its smell of books new and old!!. Our local librarian was also a big help when it came to recommending the latest books and helped me find wonderful things to read!! That was such an important part of my childhood and I treasure those memories also!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pictures of the Bookmobile!! Francine
I read all of those books, Francine. Loved them.
Oh the bookmobile days. I loved the bookmobile. I lived in a little town with 100 people counting dogs and cats. I loved when the bookmobile would come. My favorite books were autobiographies of famous people in the olden golden days.
We still have a bookmobile that goes to day cares and other places.
I know, you could buy an Airstream for your bookmobile.
Good idea, Debby!
I lived in a Milwaukee suburb…no book mobile there. But, our public library for our village was wonderful. And yes, I do remember my first library card…it was the first identification card I had! Our library was about a mile and a half from our house, and I can remember going there all by myself at quite an early age. The streets were very safe back then! The library was a wondrous place…and still is. So are book stores…with real physical books! You know I love the smell of books…if they could just bottle that scent…and freshly mown grass….or is it mowed grass? Eek! ;)
Maybe ‘mown grass?’ Dearborn is a suburb of Detroit – actually right next to Detroit, but we did have a Bookmobile. It was a cool place to grow up in – a great Rec Department, neighborhood pools, all sorts of neat things for kids, including the Bookmobile!
Sounds a lot like Elm Grove where I grew up. Our library was right next to the community pool too, and tennis courts. But, no bookmobile! But, many happy memories! ;)
I has never heard of a bookmobile until I read this post, Claudia, and I think it’s so neat that you have this picture for remembrance. Our little prairie town in Illinois did not have a library until I was about 16. I loved weekly library at school and the librarian knew of my love for books and let me check out more than the 3 book limit. I remember being about 8 years old and marching up to her one day exclaiming, “I have read every book in this library, there’s nothing left for me to read!” I’m sure she was trying not to smile. She gave me The Secret Garden and I can bet I skipped happily away. From then on she always had a great book waiting for me. Lovely memories and a great post!
XO,
Jane
What a difference a caring librarian makes in a young child’s life, Jane!
We did not have a bookmobile, but our little library was about the size of one. It was 2 little rooms (one adult and one juvenile).. I would ride my bike down there. I read every Nancy Drew book that they had. I have such fond memories of this. These stories could take me anywhere and show me things that I never dreamed of really seeing. Loved that little library.
When my parents moved up to northern Michigan (this was before they eventually moved to Florida) the little library in their town was just one room. But my mom went there all the time, she loved to read, and she checked out every book she could.
My first errand this morning was to pick up the books on order at the library. What a gift to be able to access of those wonderful books for free! I remember that I had to be able to write my name to get that first library card. And what a proud day it was when I did just that. My first job, at the age of 15, was a page at the library. Worked there till I graduated from high school. Always have had such a great love of the written word and books. Not electronic books just real hold in your hand honest to goodness books.
Another great post from you……I enjoy how you seem to touch on subjects that are so interesting and that make me think.
Thank you :)
I wonder if that was the criteria for my card? I can’t remember, but it sounds like a good idea. Working as a page sounds like the perfect first job.
Ohhhhh — having my own bookmobile with a comfy spot to curl up with a good book = heaven.
I know! Wouldn’t it be the best?
No bookmobile in my hometown, but a very clear — and happy — memory of my mother bringing my brother and me to the children’s department of our public library for our first cards. Libraries continue to be central in my life as I’m on the board of our town’s Friends of the Library group and serve as chair of the county library system advisory council.
If you haven’t read playwright Alan Bennett’s An Uncommon Reader, get hold of it immediately: a quick, delightful read about Queen Elizabeth and a bookmobile — you’ll love it.
Good for you, Margaret! I love Alan Bennett and I’ll look for that book right away!
I don’t remember a bookmobile here but we did have a nice little library..I do remember getting my first library card and what a joy it was..I spent many many hours at that library and always carried an arm load of books home with me..Thanks once again for bringing back a wonderful memory..
Carrying an armload of books = heaven.
You know I share your love of books and reading. I well remember your original bookmobile post.
The love of reading runs in my family. Now, my son and grandson are avid readers and frequent visitors to the library.
How wonderful that must be, Beverly, to see that love of reading carried on in the next generation.
Claudia,
Have you heard of the little free library? These are decorated boxes on posts with the idea of pick one up, drop one off- for free. no card is necessary and its a great idea for any neighborhood. Check out the sites’ map on where they are located around the US.
http://littlefreelibrary.org/
I have heard of them Dianne. I think it’s a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, I live on a busy country road with no sidewalk, so we could never do it. But in a residential neighborhood with sidewalks, etc? Such a great idea!
Yes, I loved our Bookmobile as well. It was parked up the street at our local mall. When I first was learning to drive,
my Dad a fellow book lover, would let me drive every Saturday to our branch library. It never failed, every time I made the right turn out of the parking lot I would run over the curb. Good memories of both places.
Oh, those pesky curbs, Shari.
I do remember them! What fun to be able to go into that place on wheels and pick out books! I was just thinking about things from my past that are gone now. Much more peaceful time in life. Our town has adopted the mini libraries now. Small houses on a post where ypu can drop off books for children. Children can pick as many books as they want and take them home. They can keep them or return them when they are done reading them. This is to make sure that all kids have an chance to read all that they want to. Not all kids can get to a library. Especially if their parents aren’t readers. I couldn’t imagine not being able to read when I wanted to. It is so hard to imagine a child without a book!! What a pity that is.
I think those mini libraries are wonderful, Teresa. If we didn’t live on such a busy road with no sidewalks, I would put one up on my property.
Well, Claudia, your librarian friend has been reading your blog and all the wonderful comments. Thank you for reminding me of the joy of connecting kids and books. I read ebooks for convenience, but love the real deal. We have no bookmobile in our system anymore, but I can only imagine what a great experience that was for you. I think I read almost everything they had in my junior high and high school libraries, never dreaming that I would someday make librarianship my career. I do remember a mobile bookseller that came to town every year. I think it probably was like the Scholastic sales they have in the schools now. I saved my money, and there was not much of it to save then, and spent a long time deciding what books to buy. I can still remember the rows of new paperbacks displayed face out. I think I bought Charles Dickens and True Grit. How funny I remember that. Anyway, thank you for such a thoughtful post.
I loved ordering Scholastic books, Debra. I couldn’t wait for them to arrive!
Oh gee, I haven’t thought about our bookmobile for years! I remember visiting it when it stopped at our neighborhood playground every so often. It was so wonderful it was to browse among all those unread stories! And of course now it’s difficult to imagine that today’s kids will someday “wax nostalgic” about iPods and Kindles.. What I wonder is – what on earth will be taking THEIR places?
I hate to think, Janet!
I remember the Book Mobile, it was only there a little while when I was really young. It parked and Snow Elementary in the parking lot. But I really remember you taking me to the library and getting loads and loads of books. I think you helped instill my love of reading because you were always reading.
Hugs,
Meredith
I remember those trips to the library, Mer! xo
Oh I LOVED my Bookmobile! I don’t remember anything about it except how excited I was when it came. And the wonderful way it smelled..all those books smelled so good! We moved and I didn’t see another one until we moved into this house when my daughter was 5. She’s 22 now but I took her to our Bookmobile every week. Another thing that I love seeing come around is the ice cream truck!
Oh, yes, the ice cream truck!
We didn’t have a Bookmobile…but a bricks and mortar library that I loved. But my favourite treat was a visit to the local bookshop, sadly no longer in business, where I would be allowed to pick a book. I would clutch it like the treasure it was, safely wrapped in it’s crisp Penguin paper bag, all the bus journey home and retreat to my room to savour the new adventure. I do use ebooks in some scenarios, but nothing replaces the joy of a real paper book (or a really bookshop or library for that matter). And they don’t hurt quite as much when you fall asleep in bed and they land on your nose (which is why I don’t read War and Peace in hardback in bed!)
I love your idea of a home Bookmobile library…do I sense a wonderful project in the making?
I sure would love the opportunity to do it!
When I was a child I rarely went to the library. It was not very child friendly, but I remember reading there Son of the Stars (Hijo de las Estrellas), from Raymond F. Jones. It, the library, no lent books. One must sit there to read. But in my home we had, and have, lots of books. I could read everything I could reach, providing I could understand the language (lots in german and a few in english). Later, in high school, we had a wonderful library, and there I read my first book in english, with the help of a dictionary. I choose the shortest I could find. Animal Farm. It was not what I expected, but sure I learned the names of a lot of animals.
The title of Animal Farm could be misleading, Veronica!
Check out these links re bookmobile history in our town of Hagerstown MD which is located within Washington County MD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Lemist_Titcomb and also http://www.whilbr.org/bookmobile/index.aspx
Enjoy!
Thanks for the links, Pam. I’ll go check them out.
Oh what great memories you have stirred Claudia! I used to love the Bookmobile but hadn’t thought of it in years. My small elementary school didn’t have a library so every two weeks the “Bookmobile” came to our school and we were allowed time to visit and choose 3 books. In two weeks they came back and we got to exchange them for3 more. My favorite memory that you shared was of the melted snow on the linoleum! I can remember stooping down to look at the bottom shelves and would almost certainly return to my classroom with a wet bottom. It was so worth it though. I grew up in North Eastern Ohio, and we always had to trudge through the plowed parking lot to reach the Bookmobile and were always afraid that it might not make it that particular week if the snow was especially deep. I have always thought I would love to own a vintage camper for my quiet place, but a bookmobile would be even better? Thank you for sharing.
I remember the plowed parking lot at my school, too, Tracy. It was cold and when I finally got inside the Bookmobile there was a nice blast of heat to warm me up.
I have a very faint memory of a bookmobile…I think it used to come to our school. But I certainly do remember my first library card and the awesome library in our town. I’m thankful that my mom took me and my sister to the library often.
It’s so important for parents to instill a love of reading in their kids.
As a child, we lived in the San Bernardino (CA) mountain community of Lytle Creek. This was in the mid 1960’s and once a month the bookmobile traveled up that long winding road from the city of Rialto. I remember with such clarity how exciting it was to go pay a visit! I loved going to the bookmobile! Now-a-days, I volunteer at the Anaheim (CA) Police Department which is next door to our main library and I get to see our bookmobile almost on a daily basis. It is much larger than the one of my youth and decorated quite nicely with a lovely mural, but seeing it always brings back good memories of those carefree days in the mountains.
Oh, how I wish there was a bookmobile in these parts!
I don’t remember a bookmobile, but we had the Gates Memorial Library, a classic revival building completed in 1917 and designed by the architects of the Grand Central Station. I’ll never forget walking up the steps, my head tilted back as I gazed at the six columns that fronted the building. Growing up in a refinery town, who could doubt that reading was a noble endeavor when it meant a trip to such a glorious building?
That library sounds like it was truly beautiful, Linda.
Yes, I do remember my first library card. I was about 7 years old. I was an early reader and devoured books in one sitting. My mom had subscriptions to children’s books so I could read at home as well as take books out of the library. I remember the library in my elementary school. It was one of my favorite places. In grade school I worked in the library and was part of the reading program where a group of us would read to the 1st and 2nd graders. English and Literature classes were my favorite and I did well in college. I still love books but don’t read enough. I closed down my blog because I needed to step away from technology and take better care of myself. Reading is at the top of my list. I just completed reading Annie’s Ghost and joined the literary club in my hometown. Dearborn was only a mile or two from our home. I also remember the book mobiles and they still have them in some towns. I have been to the library that you mention. I hope that libraries survive.
Oh, I do, too.
I remember the bookmobile well. I was lucky it stopped right in front of our house. I think it only came in the summer. I must have been about ten. I spent the summer reading all the Betsey and Tacey books. My friends would get books too and then we would swap them. One summer I must have been older we all read Catcher in the Rye. All summer our favorite expression from Holden Caulfield was “I’m just so crisp” Every time we would say it we would just laugh. It was our own private catch phrase for the whole summer. Thanks for making me think of all the great memories from the bookmobile.
I have never read Catcher in the Rye. Do you believe it? For some reason, I never got around to it. It’s on my list!
I remember the Bookmobile! I lived out of town tho so it wasn’t easily accessible to me .
I lived/live in a very small town. Our old k-12 school added an addition in the 1970s and it included a library! It started out as a school library but in the 1980s it entered into the realm of school/public library status. Now the town had an actual library.
Our town was lost in the Flood of 1993, but was ‘rebuilt’ on higher ground in the bluffs that overlook the ‘old town’
We still have the school,/public library status.
I spent the last 25 years on the Valmeyer Public Library Board of Trustees. It was a great run but I decided to give it up this year. A lot of things changed in those 25 years. Some not for the better. Lots of funding has been lost. It makes it harder and harder to buy new books. Such a shame.
I hope the libraries don’t go out of fashion. What a sad time that would be. pam
Funding is such a battle for libraries these days. It shouldn’t be. Breaks my heart.
I love that picture, Claudia. Some of my absolute favorite memories are walking down the street to the book mobile. Where my daughters live now, they have those boxes where people can exchange books. My grandchildren love that. xo Laura
Funny I should stumble upon this post tonight, since I just got back from the Bookmobile! :D It comes every Wednesday, just across the park from my house. I can go online and reserve books, then they arrive the next week. It has magazines, books, DVDs, blu-rays, CDs, audiobooks, etc. It was a recent (a few years back) discovery that has changed my world! I look forward to the Bookmobile every week. I don’t have sweet nostalgic library memories from my younger years, but I certainly have them now as an adult. :D
We have a bookmobile too. Sounds like there are lots out there.
Also struck by the “I went by myself and sometimes with my mom” (my paraphrase) walking 2 or so blocks. Those were the days! Mom couldn’t allow such now! And that’s sad! I love books to tho my eyes have gotten to a place its no longer pleasurable to read for vey long at a time. I can remrmbrr finding a bood so luscious I would read while cooking and get a couple hrs sleep only to open my eyes and grab the book and be sad when it was done! Good memories. Thanks Claudia!