It's Here!
After more than two years waiting, Branch County's new bookmobile has finally arrived! Now, it's time for library staff to load the new vehicle with books and resources that we'll be taking on the road to schools, events, and all over our service area. This preparation is expected to take a couple more months, but we promise it will be worth the wait!
Thanks to Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary, the Branch County Community Foundation, and Coldwater Solar / Apex Clean Energy, The Friends of the Lucille E. Dearth Union Twp. Library, and numerous individual donors for their support of this project!
Find us in your community at one of our Pop-up stops!
To prepare for our bookmobile service, we are already making regular visits to future bookmobile stops! At these Pop-up Libraries, you will find a selection of library materials available for checkout. Library access on a smaller and portable scale!
During the colder season, you will find us indoors at these stops.
Why a Bookmobile?
Branch County library users last had access to a bookmobile from 1938-1966. In 2018, the Branch District Library Board undertook a new strategic plan, and during our community conversations a number of people talked of their fond memories of the last bookmobile when they were younger and how they felt it could make a positive impact on the community today.
One of the goals in the 2018 BDL Strategic Plan was to offer the community wide-ranging and convenient access to library services, breaking down barriers to access whenever possible, and the BDL Board decided that a bookmobile would be a perfect way to address this goal, along with pop-up libraries, Library by Mail, digital services, and more.
BDL originally planned on conducting a large fund-raising push to fund the purchase of a bookmobile; however, budget surpluses during the covid pandemic made it possible for the library to purchase the vehicle with no fundraising needed. Generous local organizations (see above) have helped to fund the purchase of materials for the bookmobile.
See also the historical timeline of this bookmobile project.
Other Outreach Services
Can't come to one of our branches or stops? Try one of these services!
- In-person deliveries -- Call your local library and ask to be set up for deliveries to your front door.
- Library by Mail
