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Last week, I mentioned the fact that the Mifflin County Library had a bookmobile in the late 1940s. It was such a different time and in researching I can see how the need for a bookmobile came about. Before the Mifflin County Library, there were little book "stations" throughout the county, run by the kindness of local business owners and by the love of reading. I compare them to the little free libraries that are growing in popularity today. Sometimes there are a lot of books and sometimes there aren't.
There were stations of books in Milroy in Tressler's Restaurant and in McVeytown at the Novak Store, according to a Sentinel article published in May 1942. And each of the schools had stations. The schools were small, there were no libraries like there are today in the school, and children walked to school. Having a school library wasn't thought about until 1945. By 1947, there was a station at the Fort Granville Grange for use by the members, and there was a station in Belleville, and the Milroy station was being moved to the Milroy High School. How did they move the books? They needed a bookmobile.
From my research, it seemed as if the goal was to rotate books all around. Some books would be in one location, then these would be moved on and the first station would have different books. From an article I found dated November 1948, "the supply will be changed every 6 weeks to two months."
The bookmobile was finally purchased and in service beginning on Oct. 1, 1948. I'll have pictures of the bookmobile posted on the library's Facebook page this morning but it sort of looked like a UPS truck. It was boxy with double doors that opened in the rear; there was a rubber mat on the floor. And shelves of books. I don't know how the books would have stayed on the shelves because it doesn't look like there was a bar keeping them in place. Unfortunately, all the photos I have are in black-and-white. I'd love to know what color it was.
Margaretta Elder, the assistant and children's librarian, drove it for some time. When she stopped at the various local schools, she'd do story time. The bookmobile was such a huge success that it was in the Lewistown Halloween Parade and won a $5 prize. By the end of 1949, 1,860 miles were put on it. That's not a lot at all, especially by today's standards where drivers put about 10,000 miles on their vehicles in a year. Mrs. Stuckenrath kept detailed notes. The bookmobile got 14 miles per gallon.
There are several problems just glaring at me about this. Miss Margaretta and Mrs. Stuckenrath were a staff of two. There was a janitor and sometimes they had a part-time clerk/typist. But I have not found a record of a dedicated staff member who drove this thing. Burnout is a very real thing but I'm not sure if they thought about it much back then.
Also, vehicles depreciate. There needs to be a dedicated line item in the budget to save up for a replacement. One other thing, were there snow plows back in 1948 in rural places in Mifflin County? The county commissioners accepted the title for the vehicle and the insurance policy on it. The board was required to rent the "Leopold Garage" to house the bookmobile. It sounds like the bookmobile cost a lot of money.
Several staff members today have suggested we get a bookmobile. It's the 21st century. You have a bookmobile in your pocket. It's called a cellphone and you can use it with the Libby app to access library books.
Remember that the Big Book Sale starts on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 3-6:30 p.m; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27- 30 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. each day.
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Susan Miriello is the Executive Director of the Mifflin County Library.