The Mobile Library is Coming!

We are hard at work getting our new Mobile Library ready and hope our new vehicle will be able to begin services soon!  This project began as an idea about four years ago. It has been fun to rediscover the history of Bookmobile services in Alamance County.  Carrying over 400 books, a converted delivery truck established a three week service rotation in 1938, making over 200 stops at farms, villages, churches, and meeting spaces. 

More than eighty years later, Alamance County Public Libraries staff and community have worked hard to lay the groundwork and raise the funds to once again have a bookmobile on the road.  Since it’s become much more than books that are offered at libraries, our new service has been deemed the Mobile Library as it will also offer Wi-Fi, access to services and technology, programming, and more.  Our vehicle is projected to be around thirty-five feet long with enough shelf space for about 2,500 books and materials. 

While our vehicle is under construction, we are working diligently to prepare for this new service.  Our Mobile Café has been exploring different places in Alamance County to find suitable stops. But we need your help to find great locations in your area.  Stops must meet the following criteria:

  1. Has plenty of room for a 30-foot vehicle to get in and out (without having to back out);
  2. Has ample parking near where the Mobile Library will be;
  3. Is located in the rural areas of Alamance County (not near a branch library) OR would supply an underserved population (young children, older adults, veterans, lower income neighborhood);
  4. Is a place where people would want to come to visit a Mobile Library (for instance, people visiting a grocery store usually don’t want to stop and look for a book with groceries in the car).

Please fill out one of our request forms (fillable or printable) and submit them to outreach@alamancelibraries.org or by mail to Outreach at 342 S. Spring St., Burlington, NC 27215.

We are also actively seeking sponsors for our Mobile Library project.  If you or someone you know may be interested in helping to sponsor our project, please contact me at sgoldman@alamancelibraries.org. Sponsorships must be completed by April 30th to have your or your organization’s name on our sponsor’s recognition section of the vehicle.

We hope to see you out in the community in our new bright and colorful Mobile Library this fall!