Wednesday was National Bookmobile Day.
The Bookmobile is part of the Community & Family Outreach Services Department at the Delaware County District Library. The department won the 2016 Ohio Library Council John Philip Outreach Award for excellence in outreach and service provided to the community.
The Bookmobile, according to the library, drove 5,984 miles in 2016 to deliver books and other library materials across Delaware County.
“The whole point of the Bookmobile and our other mobile services is to serve our users right where they are, in a setting that is familiar and comfortable,” Delaware County District Library Director George Needham said.
“This service is the complete opposite of bureaucracy, so the Bookmobile staff members become not just library workers, but friends of their users,” Needham added.
The Bookmobile visits 27 preschools a month, reaching approximately 5,046 children total every month, plus 11 senior facilities are visited a month, reaching approximately 199 patrons at these sites.
The department also has one special monthly Bookmobile stop at a daycare for cognitive and physically challenged adults. The adults enjoy the music CDs and nonfiction titles.
Approximately 25 patrons check-out materials at each visit. “It’s a very rewarding stop,” a news release states.
At four of the daycare stops, the department provides activity programming like storytimes, crafts and penpal-style partnerships called “Dewey Deeds” where the children create two crafts, one to keep and one to give to a homebound adult patron, delivered by the library 33 storytimes in 2016 provided learning and entertainment for 1,321 children.
Adult programming also continues at some of the Bookmobile stops, in 2016 a total of 892 adults attended various programs that involved crafts, computer training, cookbook clubs and cognitive development exercises for patrons with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
