Long before Amazon, Audible, and other digital book distributors, bookmobiles were bringing literature to peoples’ doorsteps. Their mission was to provide remote villages and city suburbs that had no libraries with books to read. We invite you to remember these almost forgotten four-wheelers of the past.
The first mobile library is believed to have appeared in Warrington, England in the late 1850s. It was a horse-drawn cart and lent about 12,000 books during its first year of service. Later, such mobile public libraries were installed inside vehicles and reached the height of their popularity in the mid-20th century when they had become a part of Americal life and were loved by every bookworm.
Although bookmobiles are still operated in some parts of the world by libraries, schools, activists, and other organizations, they are widely thought to be an outdated service due to high costs, advanced technology, and impracticality.
Now scroll down below and check the vintage photos showcasing a piece from our past!
(h/t: vintageeveryday, messynessychic)
#1 An Opened Bookmobile, 1925
Image credits: Numismatic Bibliomania Society
#2 The First Bookmobile Of The Public Library Of Cincinnati, 1927
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#3 A Mobile Library In Kurdistan, Iran, 1970
Image credits: wikimedia
#4 Inside A Bookmobile, 1960s
Image credits: Bibliobussen
#5 One Of The Library Bookmobiles, C. 1948.
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#6 A Bookmobile In Indonesia, Early 20th Century.
Image credits: wikimedia
#7 The Bookmobile In Columbia Park, C. 1940
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#8 Bookmobile
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#9 Book Caravan In Iowa, C.1927
#10 Multnomah County Library, 1926
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#11 Greensboro, North Carolina, 1936
Image credits: Crossett Library
#12 An Impatient Queue For A Dutch Bookmobile
Image credits: Bibliobussen
#13 The Library’s Bookmobile On Compton Road, C.1933
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#14 Three Of The Bookmobile Staff, C.1930
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#15 Mrs. Josie Sanders, Richard Sanders, Jerome Sanders And Two Younger Children. C1950s
Image credits: Kern County Library
#16 A Horse-drawn Cart In Washington In The 1900s. It Was One Of The First American Bookmobiles, Built In 1905, But Was Hit And Destroyed By A Train In 1910
Image credits: Crossett Library
#17 A Bookmobile In Indonesia, Early 20th Century.
Image credits: wikimedia
#18 A Mobile Library In Canterbury
Image credits: Christchurch City Libraries
#19 A Boston Public Library Bookmobile, 1963
Image credits: Boston Public Library
#20 A Bus With A View, 1967
Image credits: Bibliobussen
#21 Utah State Library Bookmobile On The Road Circa 1970
Image credits: Utah State Library
#22 The Library’s Bookmobile
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#23 Children Gathering At The Bookmobile, C. 1912
Image credits: Kern County Library
#24 Children Gathering At The Kern County Free Library Bookmobile At Aztec School, 1947
Image credits: Kern County Library
#25 A Very Fine Bookmobile Owned By The New Castle County Free Library
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#26 Rockville Fair, Maryland, 1928
#27 A Circulating Library In A Streetcar In Munich, Germany
Image credits: Crossett Library
#28 Bookmobile At Anne Arundel County Fair, 1973
#29 Sanpete County Bookmobile
Image credits: Utah State Library
#30 Summer Rural Service, 1936
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#31 Bookmobile
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#32 The Book Caravan, One Of The First Traveling Bookshops, 1920.
#33 Books Free For Everybody, Right At The Door – If You Vote “yes”
Image credits: Hans Krol
#34 Library Bookmobiles In Front Of Union Terminal
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#35 The Library’s Bookmobile In Sharonville, Circa 1938
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#36 California State Library Bookmobile, C. 1950
Image credits: Kern County Library
#37 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#38 Bookmobile, Southgate District, C. 1920s
Image credits: Kern County Library
#39 Bookmobile In Madrid Spain
Image credits: Crossett Library
#40 The Library’s First Bookmobile, C. 1927
Image credits: Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County
#41 A Czech Book Truck
Image credits: KMP
#42 Onboard The Connecticut State Library’s Bookmobile With Margaret Sullivan And Marcella Finan, 1967
Image credits: Bristol Public Library
#43 Chris Junapa Standing In The Bookmobile, 1980
Image credits: Kern County Library
#44 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#45 Patrons Visit The Bookmobile In 1962. Mrs James B. Wilson, Librarian, Performs Readers’ Advisory Service At Far Right
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#46 Carolyn Herntz Assists Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile, 1958
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#47 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#48 A Photo Of The Bookmobile From Washington County (md) Free Library
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#49 Bookmobile At Headquarters, 1977
Image credits: Kern County Library
#50 Presentation Of The New Bookmobile At The Paris Colonial Exposition Held In Paris France, 1931
Image credits: Crossett Library
#51 Bookmobile, About 1925
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#52 Bookmobile Interior, May 1927
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#53 Bookmobile, 1930s
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#54 Summer Book Wagon, 1928
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#55 Bookmobile, 1924
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#56 Kids At Bookmobile
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#57 A Tram In Berlin With 2400 Books In Berlin, 1952
Image credits: Junge, Peter Heinz
#58 Framingham Public Library, 1956
Image credits: Framingham Public Library Local History
#59 Utah State Library Bookmobile On The Road, 1970
Image credits: Utah State Library
#60 The Bookmobile Of Providence Public Library, 1967
Image credits: Providence Public Library
#61 Paul Buttars, Former Manager Of The Utah State Library Bookmobile Program, In One Of The “older” Bookmobiles. Taken In Chesterfield, Ut, C.1975
Image credits: Utah State Library
#62 The Bicentennial Bookmobile In Utah, 1976
Image credits: Utah State Library
#63 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#64 Bookmobile, C. 1950
Image credits: Kern County Library
#65 Getting Ready, 1976
Image credits: Kern County Library
#66 Patrons Visiting The Bookmobile In 1962, Assisted By Mrs. James B. Wilson And Mrs. William H. Gary
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#67 Patrons Visit The Bookmobile
Image credits: Anne Arundel Country Public Library
#68 Bookmobile, C. 1950
Image credits: Kern County Library
#69 Interior Of A Circulating Library In A Streetcar In Munich, Germany
Image credits: Crossett Library
#70 Bookmobile
Image credits: Multnomah County Library
#71 Bookmobile, 1999
Image credits: Providence Public Library
#72 Bookmobile
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Image credits: Multnomah County Library
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