Most everyone who works in libraries has a fond memory involving the bookmobile. I never visited one as a child, but I worked on one as part of my first job in a children’s room…and I loved every second of it. For some kids, it was their first exposure to a library at all and, for others, it was a novel way to enjoy the rights and privileges that they had already discovered at their local branch.
The memories of my time on the bookmobile came back to me fresh and fast when I read MISS DOROTHY AND HER BOOKMOBILE by Gloria Houston and illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb. It’s a lovely read that captures the history of the bookmobile in the U.S. and serves as another way to delight young kids about this library branch on wheels.
Did you know it’s National Bookmobile Day on April 13, 2011? MISS DOROTHY AND HER BOOKMOBILE is a wonderful way to celebrate and remind us all that we can and should get creative with the services we offer to children and their families. And don’t forget to “like” National Bookmobile Day @ Your Library on Facebook. You can also read the Smithsonian’s recent article about bookmobiles, “Long Overdue, the Bookmobile is Back” by Jeff Greenwald.
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