By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The wheels on the bookmobile are back going round.
Thanks to Frank’s Automotive, the Wood County District Public Library’s bookmobile is back on the road spreading the joy of learning.
Library Director Michael Penrod said that Frank’s Automotive was “brave to look at a 13-year-old custom vehicle and figuring out how and why the suspension system wasn’t working and coming up with a work around.”
The manufacturer of the vehicle had refused to work on it.
After completing the work, they brought the vehicle up to a shop in Toledo that specializes in large trucks, and they gave the work their blessing. They said they couldn’t do any better, and declared it safe and road worthy, Penrod reported.
He delivered the good news to the library’s Board of Trustees Monday. At last month’s meeting, the outlook for the bookmobile looked grim.
[RELATED: Keeping the wheels on the bookmobile going round and round is increasingly difficult]
Penrod and other library staff have started their bookmobile shopping. They visited to Tesco Bus in Oregon where they bought the current bookmobile.
Though they don’t advertise that they sell bookmobiles, they assured the library staff that they could come up with a vehicle. They sell a wide range of buses and large vans, including vehicles that are ADA compliant.
And, they said, they could deliver it in far less than the two years other dealers were saying it would take.
Instead, a new bookmobile could hit the road in six to nine months, they said. The company orders chassis that they then have on hand.
The library is seeking two vehicles. A committee has been established to look at the purchases.
One large one would allow patrons to get on and select books much like they do on the current bookmobile. Penrod said schools have told the library that they want students to have that “traditional bookmobile experience.”
They also are seeking a smaller vehicle to handle deliveries, and as a fill in when the bookmobile is not available.
The committee visited the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s bus garage and viewed the four vehicles they use for outreach.
They include a converted Greyhound bus.
WCDPL would be looking for a vehicle smaller than the current 26-foot-long one. That’s too large, Penrod said, to fit in the parking lots of some day care centers.
The committee is studying the services the vehicles provide as well as demographic changes in the library district’s dispersed service area.
The southern end, Penrod said, is losing population, while in the northern reaches the population is growing.
The library, Penrod said, has already been setting aside funds to purchase these vehicles. The question now is which one to get first?
The committee will report back to the trustees within 60 days.
