The Department of Planning and Natural Resources is pleased to announce that the St. Croix and St. Thomas Bookmobiles are providing summer reading on wheels in the form of both fiction and non-fiction books.
With the summer rotation schedules filling, this summer proves to be a great opportunity for children and adults alike to catch up on reading. Students participating in the Governor’s Summer Reading Challenge will also have the opportunity to check out books to meet the challenge quota. Sign up for a library card on the bookmobile and start reading today.
For more than 100 years, the role of bookmobiles and direct‐delivery outreach services in fulfilling the mission of libraries are an integral and vital part of library service in the United States. Bookmobiles provide access to information and technology and supply resources for life‐long learning to Americans of all walks of life, no matter where they are – rural areas, cities or suburbs.
Locally, the state-of–the-art bookmobiles are equipped with laptop computers, Internet access, flat screen TV, microwave and a mini fridge, and they are handicap accessible. The bookmobiles come with a rotating cadre of 100 books, both fiction and non-fiction, which can be checked out right from the bookmobile. There are books targeted for all ages — children, young adults, adults and of interest to seniors. Books checked out on the bookmobile can also be returned to the public library facility.
On St. Croix, the July schedule includes: Caribbean Youth Alive, Sunshine Faces, Montessori, Word of Life, Inner Changes and the Botanical Gardens
On St. Thomas, the July schedule includes: We From Upstreet Camp, Bordeaux, Tutu Park Mall, Sibilly School, Lindberg/Bournfield, Curious George and the MCH Clinic.
As a cultural education institution, which is vital and essential in a community, the V.I. Public Libraries’ mission is to provide access to and preserve Virgin Islands culture and literary heritage, as well as to identify and serve the underserved. “A bookmobile allows for us the take a mobile library into our community as part of our literary outreach and service throughout the territory. It provides more library accessibility to people who find it difficult or impossible to visit one of our library facilities,” said Ingrid Bough, territorial director of Libraries, Archives and Museums.
For more information or scheduling for the St. Thomas Bookmobile, contact the Enid Baa Public Library at 774-0630. For the St. Croix Bookmobile, contact either the Florence Williams Public Library at 773-5715 or the Athalie M. Petersen Public Library at 772-0315 or visit the V.I. Public Libraries’ Web site at www.virginislandspubliclibraries.org