Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Today is National Bookmobile Day



According to the American Library Association, April 13, 2011 is National Bookmobile Day. Audrey Niffenegger, the author of The Night Bookmobile as well as The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry, is this year's honorary chair for this special day.

I guess if the American Library Association had known about Where Love Once Lived they would had picked someone else to be honorary chair. Oh, well. There's always next year.

Niffenegger is an artist and novelist and has created a graphic novel unlike anything I've read. Although I haven't read it, it sounds interesting and I'll add it to my to read list.

In comparison, about one-third of Where Love Once Lived takes place on a bookmobile and it should be of interest to bookmobile lovers around the world. I used my experience as a bookmobile driver to write the book and I wish we had bookmobiles still. I recently asked the Austin Public Library if they had plans to get one, and they said no. However, I'm happy to report that Georgetown, Texas, where I now live, is preparing to by one. More on that endeavor in a later post.

Another novel involving a bookmobile is The Camel Bookmobile: A Novel by Masha Hamilton. According to Publishers Weekly, this book follows a 36-year-old librarian from New York to Garissa, Kenya, on her sincere but naïve quest to make a difference in the world.

Celebrate National Bookmobile Day by reading one of these three bookmobile books, preferably mine.


3 comments:

  1. Growing up we lived in a section of the Bronx, New York that was undeveloped and we had no library close by so had a bookmobile. I remember waiting for it to show up every Tuesday so that I could go on it and get all of my books. I loved to read ever since I was a very young child.

    Blessings,
    Jo
    ladijo40(at)aol(dot)com

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  2. Thanks for checking in, Jo. I drove a bookmobile in the 1960's and met a lot of people who looked forward to our arrival.

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  3. I remember when the bookmobile came to our neighborhood in WI - not any more, but it sure made going to the big library a treasured journey. Thanks for sharing.

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