A 24-foot van was delivered over National Library Week and marks the 9th vehicle to be part of mobile services.
The Tuscarawas County Public Library has offered a portable library for 75 years, which brings materials to residents who may not have access to visit the main location or one of the branches out of Bolivar, Strasburg, Sugarcreek, or the Village of Tusky.
Assistant Director Brian Herzog says the van was customized with built-in WIFI, a lift, and checkout station.
“It’ll be a Mercedes Sprinter but it’ll be the kind that people will be able to drive it to a school and teachers can bring their classroom out and get on it so the kids can select books from the collection themselves.”
Library Director Michelle McMorrow Ramsell adds it’s smaller than the previous Bluebird bus model but bigger than their smaller van.
“We’ll still have the vehicle we currently have. We see growing our fleet because the need is really great in our community. Getting services out to people who might not be able to get into a library is still a really important aspect of public library service.”
The new bookmobile is already being utilized for community and school stops.
It will be on site for each TCLP Summer Reading Kick Off event and at the Tuscarawas County Farmer’s Market opening day on June 4th.
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