Willow Grove gives bookmobile a jump start
Some of the big kids at Willow Grove School remember the
bookmobile.
But it’s been years since the school had a visit from San Benito
County’s mobile library.
Willow Grove gives bookmobile a jump start
Some of the big kids at Willow Grove School remember the bookmobile.
But it’s been years since the school had a visit from San Benito County’s mobile library.
Those memories apparently are as indelible as a printed page, so when the Willow Grove School Parents Club asked students where they would like to make a $1,000 charitable contribution earlier this month, the answer was emphatic: the bookmobile.
The two-room school just outside of Paicines was one of the original bookmobile’s first customers, but when an aging vehicle crashed into a budgetary crisis, it was parked permanently. That was 2003. The county is to acquire a new mobile library, ready for the road but for one thing – books. The donation will be used toward the purchase of books to stock the bookmobile.
“We’re so far out here and with the library hours somewhat limited, our rural communities made very good use of the bookmobile,” said Peggy Bettencourt, longtime secretary at Willow Grove. “We even ran electricity out to the parking lot so the bookmobile could plug in.”
The library hopes to have the bookmobile stocked and back on the road to a number of rural locations within a year to a year-and-a-half. The San Benito County Library has only one branch, on Fifth Street in Hollister. Apart from school libraries and a small collection at Luck Library in San Juan Bautista, people scattered across the more than 1,000 square miles that make up San Benito either had to drive or depend on the bookmobile for library services.
The mobile library carries a qualified staff member, as well as a bank of computers for public use. Its collection is intended for readers and researchers of all ages, not just students.
The Willow Grove donation comes with one string attached – a challenge. The students and parent club are hoping other schools recognize the importance of the mobile library and offer donations of their own.
“It would be a good challenge for the other rural schools,” Bettencourt said. “It’s something we really need and we’re going to do whatever we can do.” She noted that the school helped get the last bookmobile rolling with a benefit spaghetti feed.
The library is continuing to accept donations of cash or books for the bookmobile.
Paperbacks and hardcovers in good condition may be donated at the San Benito County Free Library’s front desk, at 470 5th St. in Hollister. Donations for the Friends of the San Benito County Free Library may be donated in the book bin inside the library.
For more information on donating books or money for the bookmobile, call 636-4107.
