Placer County says farewell to Bookmobile, new mobile library coming soon

Published on July 21, 2016

After a storied, 45-year career of delivering books to the community, the beloved Placer County Bookmobile is driving off to a well-deserved retirement. A new mobile library is coming this fall, bringing the same excellent service to the community with a few exciting bonus features.

The community is invited to bid a fond farewell to the Bookmobile and catch a performance of Wild Things, a live animal show, as part of the Placer County Library summer reading program, July 25, 10:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m., at the Auburn Recreation Park. This will be the last opportunity to walk through and even check out a book or two from the Bookmobile before it ends its service. Materials checked from the Bookmobile can be returned by their due date to any library in the Placer County library system.

While Bookmobile fans wait for the new mobile library to hit the road, e-book and audio book titles are available for download at the library website.

The Bookmobile was established in 1970 to provide library services to rural areas of the county and residents who could not easily reach brick and mortar libraries, such as those living in convalescent homes. Since then, the Bookmobile has traveled over 300,000 miles, loaning books, magazines, paperbacks and books on CD, filling requests for specific titles for library users of all ages.

County staff are preparing to roll out a new mobile library this fall, thanks in-part to a $20,000 grant from the Air Pollution Control District to the Placer County Department of Public Works and Facilities.

A lot has changed in 45 years, so the new mobile library is getting a couple of new upgrades to keep up with the times. The mobile library will be a Wi-Fi hotspot, offering the community access to the internet with on-board mobile devices patrons can use. It will be powered by a clean diesel engine, helping reduce its carbon footprint on the environment.

Apart from the upgrades, much about the mobile library will be the same. In fact, materials from the Bookmobile will be transitioned to the mobile library.

The mobile library will also have a new regular weekly stop in Meadow Vista, located in front of the Community Center at 1109 Meadow Vista Road.

The Placer County Library is currently recruiting for a new driver to partner with the mobile library. The library assistant position duties include selecting materials for the mobile library collection relative to the needs of customers at each stop, implementing library programs, providing customer service, vehicle maintenance and more. Since the new mobile library is lighter and smaller, it only requires a class c driver license. Visit the Placer County mobile library website for more information.