The bookmobile
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This paper is an examination of the bookmobile, one of the most innovative solutions to the problem of delivering the benefits of public libraries to as diverse a population as possible. Bookmobiles began as a uniquely American institution. Because public libraries arose out of the conviction that the universal accessibility of books is an important basis for a democratic society, proponents of this philosophy began to look for ways to make books available to those who could not come to the library. Early attempts included the establishment of deposit libraries, which were portions of stores, factories, churches, and other spaces set aside to receive books and encourage reading. Librarians soon realized that the vehicles used to bring the books to the deposit libraries could themselves serve as miniature, portable libraries. The Depression-era Works Progress Administration furthered the concept with some innovative experiments, and the American Library Association encouraged soldiers to read through two world wars, delivering books by way of some highly creative arrangements. As technological advances have altered the librarian's job considerably, they have also challenged librarians to consider the future of bookmobiles as a means of sharing resources and information with every citizen possible, continuing to fulfill the mandate that created and fueled the free public library system in America. Harvard University established the first library in the United States in
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ians," who, with their saddlebags stuffed with books, brought libraries to the most remote sections of the country. Riding horses and mules through the mountain areas allowed the WPA to bring books to patrons unreachable even by bookmobiles because of their distance from paved roads. WPA librarians adapted to whatever forms of transportation were useful: in Mississippi, workers distributed books along the bayou in small boats; in Minnesota, books were given out at barbershops and from orange crates on the front porches of farmhouses.
The WPA library program also began to expand the kinds of services that even travelling libraries offered patrons, not simply giving out books but also using the contact to provide personal assistance and counselling. Dickson quotes a report on the changes that the WPA's programs and other vigorous attempts to circulate books as widely as possible brought to the concept of a library's purpose: "That the Minnesota Public Library could become a moving social force in dealing with personal problems [by offering counselling programs along with books] was a major departure from the image of a building that simply held books."
The WPA program worked to circulate books in areas which had not prev
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Approximate Word count = 4521
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)
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