teens kids catalog calendar about outreach readers' services search reference home

DBRL Bookmobile - Taking the Library on the Road

Daniel Boone Regional Library Bookmobile Service

  • Service began in this area in 1957 as a two-year demonstration project funded by the Missouri State Library.
  • Today, the DBRL bookmobile services smaller communities through the Outreach Department, visiting: Auxvasse, Hallsville, Harrisburg, Holts Summit, Mokane Sturgeon, and Williamsburg

The Need for a New Bookmobile

  • The previous DBRL Bookmobile, purchased in 1986, traveled more than 1,000 miles per month.

  • After 14 years of operation, the bookmobile shows more than 162,000 miles on the odometer.

  • The engine was replaced in 1998, and the fiberglass panel seams and plywood flooring need repair.

  • Due to the small size of the current bookmobile, no more than ten people at once can squeeze in to browse the revolving collection of 2,300 materials.

  • The combination of patrons using the computer and browsing for books in such cramped quarters also limits the staff’s ability to assist patrons and shelve returned items.

  • Despite its limitations, patrons have checked out more than 538,000 items from the bookmobile since 1986.

The New Bookmobile

  • The new bookmobile began service in October 2001.

  • DBRL’s new bookmobile was built by OBS, Inc. of Canton, Ohio. It features a Blue Bird school bus chassis and a 285 HP diesel rear engine. The cost of the vehicle is $193,000 and has a life expectancy of 20 years.

  • It is twice as long as the current bookmobile, features a seven-foot ceiling, and comes equipped with air-conditioning, a patron seating area and built-in space for a public access computer.

  • It also features a wheelchair lift for patrons with disabilities which, when not in use, is covered by swing-away bookshelves to provide additional shelf space.

  • With all these features and nearly double the capacity for materials, the new bookmobile will give patrons a greater opportunity to access the 366,000 items in the DBRL collection and greatly enhance their bookmobile experience.

  • Youth Outreach BookmobileDBRL's smaller bookmobile was newly refurbished in 2003. The goal of this second bookmobile service is to introduce youth ages 2-18 in low-income neighborhoods to the public library and to encourage reading.