Bookmobile News

It’s that time again! When we finally take a deep breath and look back at the places and people of the previous program year. It was another terrific term for outreach as we visited an all-time high number of locations and continued to search out the children, families, adults and seniors most challenged for access to high quality reading material. We hope you’ll take a little retrospective with us by visiting the “Photos & Videos” section of our website. Just click here to get started. And thank you for your continued support of Sonoma County’s only public-access bookmobile!

In early 2014, then-President of the Sonoma County Public Library Foundation (SCPLF) Jen Klose contacted the Free Bookmobile with a novel idea: would the bookmobile consider coming into the fold of the Foundation, for mutual benefit? Jen and Treasurer Dan Jenkins soon pitched an initiative that made a lot of sense and seemed likely to facilitate the growth and stability of the bookmobile program. Five years on, that suspicion has been proven well and truly correct!

SCPLF had been active in helping the community fund certain libraries and support popular projects like Summer Reading at YMCA children’s camps. What they lacked was a full-time program that would promote literacy and utilization of library resources year-round. We were able to happily supply that, flying their banner on our many travels, and making sure the public in lower-income and rural areas became aware of all the Sonoma County Library system has to offer. And SCPLF was happy to provide the Free Bookmobile with the kind of institutional support that led to 20% annual growth in program outcomes.

Of course the biggest winners are local residents who continue to enjoy the fruits of this productive collaboration. Thank you, SCPLF!