Bookmobile News

We are excited to announce the publishing of three new photo galleries on our website, the first entries of 2010.  They can be found by clicking on the “Photos” link on the sidebar menu at http://sonomacountybookmobile.org.  We hope they capture the positive atmosphere of our events for those who haven’t yet attended one…and perhaps bring back a few good memories for those who have!

One of our favorite collections of the new year is entitled “Family Portraits”.  We feel that reading together is a wonderful way to strengthen family relationships, and these pictures bear witness to the excitement that both kids and adults experience when they discover new books together.  As one Penngrove mom put it to her teenage son while staggering away with armloads of titles: “Let’s skip lunch and go home and read!”

It has been a fantastic first year for us, and we’re not even close to the twelve-month mark. After finishing some routine tabulation, we realized that we have given away more than 10,000 books to 3,000 individuals throughout Sonoma County. And we did it in less than nine months on the job. Not bad for a weekend operation!

In fact, we gave away our 10,000th book in Bodega Bay at the Fisherman’s Festival last month. Lots of families out there groovin’ to the music and picking out fun stuff to read. Since then we have hosted 7 more events, for a grand total of 61, and brought our book tally to over 11,500. Who knows where we will stand on July 26th, our official anniversary.

There are so many kind people who made this happen, and we hold that gratitude for them on a daily basis. In particular we want to thank our family and friends who have invested blood, sweat, and tears of joy to the project, the loyal groups and organizations which put resources behind our effort, and all the people who have parted ways with their books so that others could enjoy them too. You have all supplied vital ingredients to the magic of the Sonoma County Free Bookmobile!

May we drive onward for a very long time indeed…