The Jeffco Public Library’s bookmobile awaits customers outside Chatfield High School. Library staffers say the role of the bookmobile has gone far beyond the vehicle’s core mission of mobilizing literacy.
Bookmobiles have been with Jeffco Schools for a long time. While the core mission hasn’t changed much – putting literacy within easy and convenient reach – the 21st century bookmobile has a wide range of different uses and capabilities.
Jefferson County Public Library’s bookmobile is on the road year-round, and can often be seen parked outside various Jeffco schools, not only as an extra resource to students, but also as a hard-to-miss reminder.
“I think it’s important that people realize the library and the bookmobile are alive and well. We share the same goal and mission – literacy. Getting people to read and appreciate the humanities and everything that the world of books can offer,” said Cindy Matthews, Promotions and Marketing Manager, Jeffco Public Libraries.
The library and the bookmobile have far more than books available. They also have video and music downloads and streaming video for free.
The Bookmobile has logged miles traveling not only to schools, but to rural areas of the county, as well as retirement centers and correctional facilities. It caters to a wide range of customers and customer tastes including field trips with the bookmobile, teen services such as date-a-book speed dating, and more.
“One of the areas that we’re now visiting is the Ken Caryl area on Saturdays because that neighborhood grew into its own town, and they don’t have a library there. So it’s a nice place where we can set up shop, still offer the people some of the services that the library offers,” said Cecilia LaFrance, who works as the library’s Library2You Coordinator.
The bookmobile is also a great way for the library to reach out to the community beyond the library walls.
“We have these kids who check out books in the library at their school, or they may visit their public library when they’re little or, again, when they’re parents, but there’s this whole, almost decade or decade and a half in-between where people forget about their local library because their life is taking over,” said Matthews. “It’s something where we want to build that relationship and continue to nurture so when they do graduate high school they remember us and we continue to be a part of their lives.”
The library continues to have a strong relationship with Jeffco Public Schools, along with visits from the bookmobile. The “Book a Librarian” program offers research help for Jeffco students, who can call and reserve a librarian that will work one-on-one with students for 30 minutes to help them determine the best approach to the research project at hand.
“What this public agency does for our community, in helping people learn to read and appreciate everything that’s out there is just amazing,” said Matthews.
See the JPS-TV version of this story here.