One of the big questions the mobile services team answers is: “What if I can’t get to the library?” Mobile Services travels through Gallatin County with a bus (the Bookmobile!) or an SUV visiting playgrounds, neighborhoods, assisted living homes, schools, attending special events, and making special deliveries.
The Bookmobile is incredibly unique! It began a typical Blue Bird passenger bus, with rows of seats and bag storage for over-the-road transportation. In 2017, the Bozeman Public Library, with the help of the Bozeman Library Friends and Foundation, our Bookmobile was commissioned and the passenger bus was almost completely stripped of its interior parts. Over a period of a few months, shelving, benches, a wheelchair lift, custom desks, storage cabinets, and the distinctive wrap designed by local illustrator Sharon Glick were installed to make the bus what you see today!
On the road, we offer most of the same essential services that the main library building does. The Bookmobile collection is included in the county sharing agreement, which means you are able to place and pick up holds from any county library on the bus. You can also return books from any library in the county, and the Bookmobile will facilitate their transportation back to their home library. If you’d like to place a book on hold to pick up on the bus, you can do that by choosing “BOZEMAN-B” under the holds option list on the library catalog website.
We are also able to make and renew library cards, renew materials, and help out with other general library questions. The bus collection is updated regularly with new items including comics, picture books, fiction, nonfiction, and even games. One advantage the Bookmobile has over the main building—and our other county libraries even—is that we often have available copies of new release or popular books that might be hard to get a hold of on a typical day (including CJ Box and Dog Man)!
Each week the bookmobile visits 10-15 dedicated stops. Throughout the day, the bus might go anywhere in Gallatin County! The furthest stop from the main library is Pass Creek Elementary School, 25 miles up Springhill Road. On Saturdays, mobile services visits assisted living homes throughout Bozeman, bringing a selection of large-type, regular type, and new release books selected to reflect the interests and requests of the residents. If you don’t see anything you’re interested in, feel free to ask the library staff member to bring something you want to see for next time!
Saturday stops are one of the best parts about working on the mobile services team. As the mobile services assistant, I choose all of the books and materials (6 crates worth!) that get toted around in the BPL vehicle. Since I see a lot of the same folks each weekend, it is a fun challenge to keep track of what everyone is reading, and especially to attempt to snag the newest books I know my regulars would be interested in when I see them pop up on the shelves.
If you are unable to visit the main building or the Bookmobile, the Mobile Services team works with library volunteers to facilitate a special delivery service. Individuals living in Bozeman who are homebound for any reason or living in an assisted living or nursing home are eligible to apply. Special delivery patrons are paired with a volunteer who will visit the library for you and pick out materials that align with your interests, as well as deliver them to you at your residence.
This summer, the Bookmobile is also participating in the library’s summer learning challenge, which is encouraging patrons of all ages to explore their community, library, and interests to make the most of their summers. Visiting the mobile library will get you a sticker that completes one of your pages and gets you one step closer to completing your “Library Lover” patch!
Our schedule is available on the Bozeman Public Library website. Mobile Services runs rain or shine, and we hope to see you at one of our stops very soon!
-Kiersten Orning, Mobile Services Library Assistant