About the Bookmobile

On Tuesday, December 2, 2003 the Indian Trails Public Library District's Bookmobile rolled down Schoenbeck Road and was delivered to the library.

The brightly colored vehicle was purchased by the library district to replace the Summer Book Van that could only provide services during the months of June, July, and August. The Bookmobile enables the library to operate mobile services 12 months a year to provide better library service to individuals and families living in the most remote areas of the library district and to those unable to visit a library because of illness or disability.

Built by Farber Specialty Vehicles of Columbus, Ohio, one of the leading manufacturers of ELF (Extremely Low Floor) Bookmobiles, the 29-foot. vehicle weighs approximately 16,000 lbs. The library's "walk-on" Bookmobile has a low floor, a ramp for easy access for the handicapped, and three carts that can be rolled off the vehicle at sites such as nursing homes where many of the patrons need "in-building services".

The bookmobile is designed to hold more than 4,000 pieces of library materials including hardcover and paperback books, videotapes, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and puzzles. It carries a collection of new and popular materials in English, Spanish, Russian, and Polish.

Bookmobile use is not restricted to specific groups at a stop location. All persons are free to use the Bookmobile. Patrons using the "mobile" library receive many of the same services as those using the main library. At the bookmobile a person can apply for a library borrower's card, place a reserve on Bookmobile or main library materials, place an interlibrary loan request, register for programs, renew materials, play reading club games, or pay fines or fees.

A person must present a valid Indian Trails Public Library District borrower's card when checking out items. Library materials may be borrowed from the bookmobile for two weeks and may be returned to the Bookmobile or the library.

On January 5, 2004 the Bookmobile began making stops throughout the community, serving over forty convenient community sites including senior citizen facilities, nursing homes, apartment complexes, schools, preschools, and day care centers which are located throughout the library district which serves Wheeling, and portions of Buffalo Grove and Prospect Heights. The Bookmobile operates on a bi-weekly schedule that includes some morning, afternoon, evening, and weekend stops.

The Bookmobile schedule is published on the library's Web site and in the library newsletter four times each year. The Bookmobile provides services on dates when the main library is open for business, and suspends mobile services on holidays when the library is closed, during severe weather conditions, or for routine maintenance or mechanical failure. Please consult the library's Web site at www.indiantrailslibrary.org for bookmobile service schedules and library closing notices.

To obtain additional information on bookmobile services or schedule, or to request a new stop, send an e-mail message to bookmobile@itpld.lib.il.us, or call R. Christine Gibson, Mobile Services Division Head at 1-847-459-4100.