Parting Shot: Akron Bookmobile

 photo courtesy of Summit Memory/Akron-Summit County Public Library

Well Read

Clinton, 1940s

Everyone needs books in their life. Around 1946, Akron Public Library launched the bookmobile to visit school districts and rural areas where there was limited access to libraries. The mobile service reached people living in housing centers, detention centers, the Jewish center, a home for unwed mothers and union headquarters. At first, the bookmobile was a truck with books packed on shelves lining the sides and on a back alcove, and anyone could grab a title that piqued their interest. In the summer, the bookmobile frequently parked at summer camps like Camp Y-Noah in Clinton, shown here. Today, the library offers four types of mobile services including two buses, a box truck and express delivery services. These libraries on wheels reach about 1,000 bookworms a month.