Warwickshire waves goodbye to old fleet of Mobile Libraries
Warwickshire is waving goodbye to its old fleet of Mobile Libraries as new vehicles prepare to be introduced.
The fleet of mobile libraries that have served the communities of Warwickshire for the last decade have made their final journey.
The five vehicles have covered a total of over half a million miles as they have made approximately 50,000 visits each year to rural communities and sheltered housing across Warwickshire delivering annually nearly 300,000 books, audio books, cassettes and other items to elderly people living in sheltered housing and those in rural villages.
In line with Warwickshire County Council’s commitment to caring for older people, the fleet will use the same library management system as all other libraries. This means that loan periods will now last three weeks as opposed to four as was the case when the previous fleet attended sheltered housing.
The design of the new vehicles has taken into account the needs of its user group with the installation of a ramp at the rear of the buses and air conditioning for hot summer days.
And, although many modifications have been made to enable older people to use the buses, the County Council has recognised that younger users, whom the fleet visits in more secluded areas of the county, will also use the buses and have provided a range of books for under fives.
Named after characters from Shakespeare plays, the buses are considerably lighter and are able to travel on roads with weight restrictions allowing them to use shorter, more flexible routes, reducing fuel usage and enabling longer stops and an increased number of locations.
Desmond Heaps, principal librarian for Warwickshire Libraries, said: “The old fleet has served the county extremely well, taking many thousands of items to people, usually older people, who would otherwise not have been able to visit a library and would have been at risk of being isolated.
“I am delighted that we will have the new vehicles to enable us to continue and develop what has been a service which has greatly improved the quality of life for thousands of people across the county.”