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Imagination on Wheels

By Kearstie Kaspar

When I was growing up I searched for mischievous fairies, learned to cast spells and solved murder mysteries. I went on adventures that made my heart race and my imagination soar. How did I do that you ask? Two words: the library.

Children learn so much from reading. They gain a sense of adventure. Their problem solving and comprehension skills grow exponentially. And they prepare themselves to excel in life. But in a generation filled with interactive videogames and portable DVD players at their fingertips, and where a trip to the library is just not as convenient for parents as ordering a movie on Netflix, it would seem that reading has become a dying art. Or has it?

Not according to South Jersey Bookmobile services. Thanks to these services, the books come to convenient locations all throughout Atlantic, Cape May, Burlington, Cumberland, Hunterdon and Salem counties. With six different bookmobiles and libraries running them, they are covering ground and bringing imagination back into the hands of children all over South Jersey.

Burlington County Bookmobile is a part of the Burlington County Library, and covers the more remote areas of the county. Paula Manzella, the Supervising Librarian at BCL who manages their Bookmobile, talked to me about her experience in her 12 years working there.

The BCL Bookmobile Service was founded in 1923, just two years after the library opened in 1921, because of the demand for a larger outreach in such a huge county. Their Bookmobile alone serves over 1,000 people a month. They carry not only books, but audiobooks and DVD’s as well. 

“Reading is just so important,” Paula stressed. “For kids it helps with education, obviously, but it’s more than that. It’s for pleasure, for entertainment, and to escape.”

This point of escaping was very important to Paula, because it’s so key to many of her readers. “We visit one woman who is shut into her house taking care of her husband 24/7. She orders 10-15 books a week, because that’s her way to get out, escaping into the story. It’s good for her, to have that opportunity to get away into her own world for awhile.”

The Bookmobile service serves to “keep the mind active” for people young and old, according to Paula. But there is another reason that the Bookmobiles are so well loved, and many times preferred to making the trek to the library, which has nothing to do with the books being on wheels.

“We are able to give a higher level of personal service,” explained Paula. “The staff talks to our customers every week. We know their names; we know who they are. It’s so great to see a kid from the car seat all the way through to graduation. The bookmobile is just a more friendly and intimate atmosphere.”

The Bookmobile does have some foes to watch out for, like the weather. “During the back-to-back storms in February we couldn’t get the bus out for two weeks! We had to resort to delivery by minivan for awhile,” explained Paula. The huge truck, carrying over 4,000 titles in it, clearly does not deal well with snow and ice.

The Bookmobile is also in a constant battle with kids growing unfamiliarity with the idea of reading for fun. They try different things like pairing up DVDs and books together, whether it’s just in displays or as a book club package. It’s working; kids get much more interested when they can relate the books to things they can see. But the Bookmobile itself is the real conqueror in this fight for children’s attention.

“It’s the element of discovery that really pulls kids in and makes them so excited,” laughed Paula. Children just can’t get enough of this humongous truck with a corner of books and DVDs just for them. It’s like a treasure hunt on wheels. As Paula put it, “It’s just cool!”

It’s a relief to know that Bookmobiles are spreading the imagination all over. Hey, somebody has to slay the dragons, right? Even if it is from their very own homes on a couch by the fireplace. Check out your local library website for a link to see if there’s a Bookmobile near you.

Kearstie Kaspar is a local freelance writer.