Book Bike is still a working name for the three-wheeled mobile library branch that will be making its way to Oak Park in mid-April.
Heather McCammond-Watts, Oak Park Public Library’s manager for children’s services, said she’s hoping the community can help in naming the library’s new roving branch.
McCammond-Watts said the idea was inspired by news of a new book bike program in Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Arizona, but the concept for mobile library branches was developed within the last decade by Chicagoan Gabriel Levinson.
Dubbing it the Book Bike Project, Levinson built a cargo bike in the 2000s that doubled as a mobile free library. Levinson handed out books to people along the lakefront, McCammond-Watts said.
The concept is starting to gain in popularity with libraries across the country, McCammond-Watts said, noting that the mobile branches have popped up in other cities such as Seattle and Portland.
McCammond-Watts said she hopes the mobile branch provides the library the opportunity to better connect with the community.
“Basically, it’s a very approachable way to talk to people and have a conversation about what the library can do for you,” she said.
Residents will have the opportunity to check out books and sign up for library cards on the go, McCammond-Watts said.
The cargo bike is being built by Haley Tricycles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be shipped to Oak Park sometime in mid-April. McCammond-Watts said the $3,000 mobile branch was paid for through a donation from the Fallon Family Endowment Fund, a library fund managed by the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation.
McCammond-Watts said mobile library serve the library’s three main missions of engagement, stewardship and learning. The book bike is environmentally friendly and has a lot of impact for little investment, she said.
Expect to see the book bike at parades, street festivals, block parties and for story time for kids in the park. McCammond-Watts said she hope to allow neighborhoods to request a visit from the book bike as well.
“It’s a great opportunity to know your library staff and get to know what your library has to offer,” she said.