Improved fleet of vehicles en route for mobile libraries
Warwickshire Library and Information Service will launch a new fleet of vehicles in October 2007 as part of the improvements being made to mobile library services in the county, and the public are being asked to help provide a name for them.
Based on a Peugeot van chassis, the new mobile libraries will weigh in at 7.5 tonnes and will provide a fully integrated library service to rural, sheltered and some urban communities from October 2007. Being lighter, they will be able to gain access to minor roads and bridges with a 7.5 tonne weight limit as well as confined spaces.
Not only will the new vehicles have better, greener engines, they will also feature a much lower entrance with just two small steps to negotiate, a ramp at the rear which can be easily deployed to allow access to wheelchair users. Air conditioning for those hot summer days will also be a feature.
Each vehicle will carry a range of popular, good quality large and small print titles, spoken word and books suitable for young children. There will also be a People’s Network PC on each vehicle providing access to information on the Internet. Large screens will also display a range of local, library and County Council information throughout the day.
A new and exciting part of the improvements being made to the mobile service is the development of a Depot established at Kenilworth Library. The Depot will provide support for all mobile libraries and will speed up the process of providing requested items and the rotation of books between each vehicle and therefore improving the service to customers.
To allow the development of the Mobile Library Depot at Kenilworth the Warwickshire Talking Service has been moved to a dedicated room within the building providing an improved working environment for this important service to visually impaired people in the county.
Desmond Heaps, Principal Librarian, Community said, “The new fleet of mobile libraries will enable the library service to provide direct services to more communities than ever before with a particular emphasis on older people and young children. The schedules of the service will be inclusive as well as being more efficient, and with the support of the Depot customers will have access to an improving range of books as well as all the services the Library Service provides”.
Warwickshire Libraries are also asking their users to have a say in choosing the names of the mobile libraries. Each vehicle will have a Shakespeare play as the theme for the livery design and it will be the name of one of the main characters that will be given to each, the options are as follows:
Antony or Cleopatra
Romeo or Juliet
Othello or Desdemona
Hamlet or Ophelia
Oberon or Titania from a Midsummer Night’s Dream
Anyone wishing to cast their vote can do so by filling in a voting slip available on any mobile library.