Bookmobile News

A huge thank you to our new supporters, Abbey Carpet of Petaluma! On short notice, Abbey was able to replace our aging industrial weave with beautiful specialized carpet that should provide the most comfortable and hygienic browsing experience ever for our many thousands of young patrons. The job was not an easy one, as the bookmobile interior is a custom surface that presented several unique challenges to the Abbey team. Not only did they come through on time but also gave us a substantial discount as a way of investing in our literacy outreach work.

Thank you also to the City of Santa Rosa Community Advisory Board, which provided major funding for this improvement. Come see us soon on our route to check out our fabulous new floor!

Thank you, Healdsburg Area Fund of Community Foundation Sonoma County! In recognition of the impact we are having with our high quality work throughout the greater Healdsburg area, the Community Foundation HA Board has renewed our grant funding in full for 2014. This marks the third year of our collaboration with the HA Fund Board, and is of course great news for all the children, families and seniors we are reaching each month in that region. From the farmworkers at Harvest Grove apartments to the four-year-olds at the Healdsburg Child Development Center, from the seniors at Fitch Mountain Terrace to the after-school kids at Geyserville Boys & Girls Club, we’re thrilled to continue serving them all next year!

The holiday season has brought us a wonderful and unexpected gift! We just learned that Domtar Paper has picked up the tab for a big supply of brand new children’s books coming our way. They have partnered with First Book to help promote literacy in underserved communities. From the announcement:

“Through their Powerful Pages campaign, Domtar is giving children the opportunity to experience the wonder that books provide.  Domtar asked First Book to distribute 35,000 books nationwide. As part of this program, we are thrilled to award Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County [new books] to further support your commitment to literacy…Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of the work that you do in your community.  First Book works with thousands of organizations like yours across the country and we appreciate your commitment to promoting literacy and helping us get books to the children who need them most.”

Domtar takes their partnerships seriously and we are impressed by their attention to the sustainability of the paper industry as well. Click here to learn more about their relationships with the World Wildlife Fund, Rainforest Alliance, and other organizations.

We are both thankful and inspired that our services are in demand! In order to meet the public’s interest in accessing high quality books from our shelves, we need to expand our wonderful crew of volunteers. We are especially in need of folks who can drive a route once per month to pick up book donations from our area partners. There are usually five friendly locations to visit, and you’ll need to be able to lift up to 40 lbs, but generally the books will fit into any mid-sized or bigger vehicle (including hatchbacks) in one run. This is a commitment of a few hours monthly.

We also need volunteers who would be interested in promoting our regular visits to certain parts of the county, including the Roseland and Larkfield areas. This would involve doing a little neighborhood research, maintaining an email list, and posting a few flyers once per month.

There are other opportunities utilizing your special talents! Please contact us by emailing Director Glen Weaver at glen@freebookmobile.org, or by calling 707-520-4536.