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We support bookmobile service, a mobile library, for Chester County for the following reasons:

• Bookmobiles are generally far cheaper than fixed libraries. [Tutton, 1990; Philip, 1990; Hole, 2003]

• 90% of those who use any public library live within two miles [Hole, 2003]. A bookmobile does nearly everything a small library does, creating readers and library patrons. "Cybermobiles," in fact, can do more than some small libraries. [Drumm, 2000]

• Bookmobiles serve groups who would otherwise not use a library. [Vavrek, 1990]

• Bookmobiles provide efficient ways to find "sure-fire" locations for future branches. [Hole, 2003]

• Nearly 50% of bookmobile users live less than one mile from the stop, making bookmobiles convenient and easy to access. [Bookmobile User Survey, Clarion University, 1997]

• Demographic trends further heighten the mobile library’s usefulness. [Vavrek, 1990]

• Some of the population served by the Chester County Bookmobile is particularly vulnerable: handicapped citizens, the elderly, special-needs children, the Hispanic population in southern Chester County, isolated county residents. [Purrenhage, 2003]

• The rural nature of half of Chester County’s land mass and one-fifth of the county’s population make access to libraries more difficult for many county residents [Gimbel, 2003]

• Unlike expensive fixed libraries, bookmobiles respond quickly to demographic changes. [Vavrek, 1990]

• Funding sources for a Chester County Bookmobile abound; Chester County can provide this service without any additional cost to taxpayers. [CAB fact sheet]

• 67% of bookmobile users say access to a bookmobile has made their life better

• 38% say bookmobile access improves their child’s learning

• 90% say the bookmobile is convenient; 48% live less than one mile from a stop

• 16% report suffering "desperate" consequences if the bookmobile were not available; 46% say consequences would be "bad." [all data from Bookmobile User Survey, Center for Study of Rural Librarianship, 1997]

• Vans, which can be part of an effective outreach program, are not mobile libraries and thus do not allow patrons to browse

• Vans do not allow for a "library experience," which librarians consider essential in helping children become readers and leading them to use other libraries throughout their lives

• Vans do not reach all the populations served by bookmobiles and do not offer the same level of service as a bookmobile

• Vans are most often used for transporting materials and thus do not function as a library and rarely offer patrons access to library staff

CAB 9/14/03; revised 9/20/03