Dear Friends,
What
began as a weekend family service project blossomed into an
important community resource:
The Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County promoted literacy and love of
reading by giving away high quality books to access-challenged people throughout the region.
On a mission of outreach, the Free Bookmobile especially sought to serve children, families, and seniors living in rural and low-income areas.
Sonoma County has a long history of service provision. Decades ago, the public library in fact ran two bookmobiles simultaneously, allowing them to address both rural and inner city areas. Though not directly affiliated with the county system, we were proud to be the leader in local literacy outreach for more than 10 years.
Our style was a little less conventional. Rather than loan books out,
we preferred to just pass them forward, free of charge. We kept it simple!
It was a 'spreading the love' kind of thing. We functioned behind the
scenes as an exchange, keeping our shelves full by aggregating donations
from individual collections, publisher and bookstore overstock, and brand
new material for our youngest patrons. We reveled in
the excitement on the faces as we pulled up to schools and community centers,
to parks and homeless shelters, increasing access to the educational content
and cultural wealth of books for all comers.
Though our service is now discontinued, we invite you to explore our site
and find out what our bookmobile meant to us and those we served. Be
sure to
click here for our comprehensive guide to starting and
operating a similar project in your area. It's easy and tons of fun!
Yours in service,
Glen Weaver
707.520.4536