Once the Bookmobile rolls in, it takes just a few minutes to turn a retirement home lounge, grocery store parking lot, or community center into a library for the next hour. At the Library System of Lancaster County's Bookmobile, we help provide library materials to patrons who, for a variety of reasons, may not be able to access another Lancaster library. In addition to regular books, patrons check out DVDs, audiobooks, and our robust collection of large-print books. At many locations, we wheel our collection inside so that our friends don't need to struggle up steps or worry about a slippery sidewalk, and we love that patrons can pick out their own books and movies. It may seem like a small thing, but we know that for folks living in a retirement or assisted living facility, having access to books by the authors they have grown to love is a huge contributor to their sense of well-being and quality of life.

The Bookmobile is built for flexibility! Its unique design allows us to maximize space while transporting our collection of books to the communities we serve. We keep our books on carts so that we can set up anywhere, and so that we can easily change the types of books that we bring: our Graphic Novel cart comes with us to community stops, and we never leave for one of our retirement homes without a cart full of Inspirational Fiction!

We could not do what we do without some special pieces of technology, such as the lift we use to offload our book carts, the wall clamps and straps that secure the shelves while the Bookmobile is driving, and the generator that powers the lights that allow browsing the Bookmobile itself. As you can imagine, these items all require maintenance, which is one thing that your support helps with. Another Bookmobile necessity is our ability to acquire new materials to check out to patrons. Books, movies, and audiobooks are all expensive, but they are a great investment because they are able to be enjoyed by library patrons all across Lancaster County!