The Bruce County Public Library is welcoming the arrival of the long-awaited Bookmobile.
This new vehicle, which arrived last week, is designed to bring the library on wheels to underserved communities throughout the county.
Library Assistant Director Joanna Aegard says, “we are super excited that the bookmobile is finally here, it’s been a long wait, we have done a lot of planning and had to wait for the vehicle to arrive.”
She says the bookmobile will visit parks, community centres, schools, daycare centres, and senior housing facilities, bringing with it access to books, DVDs, educational materials, free Wi-Fi, and other resources like snowshoes and musical instruments.
Library Director Brooke McLean adds, “through a mobile branch, we can effectively provide equal access to literature, education and technology to all members of our communities. We are immensely grateful for the generosity of our donors, who made the bookmobile a reality.”
Aegard says the process to bring the bookmobile to the area began over five years ago after it was determined it was needed.
“We do have 17 branches but there a lot of communities that don’t have a branch and where people might not be able to get to a branch because they are isolated and there is no transit,” says Aegard. “We spent a few years doing fundraising and then we finally ordered the vehicle and then it was in the middle of Covid so there were supply chain delays and so on. It has been a bit of a process but we are super excited it’s finally here.”
To mark its arrival, Aegard says they plan to have an official launch party on Oct. 21 starting at 10 a.m. at the Port Elgin branch.
“We will have entertainment and fun things for everyone to do for a few hours that day and you can take a look at the bookmobile,” says Aegard.
More information on the bookmobile’s planned route can be found on the library’s website here.
