Brandon Twp.-It’s sleeting on a cold January afternoon and Denise and Alyssa Cardillo think it’s a good day for some books, but not such a good day for a drive to the library. No problem, the library comes to them in the form of BookZilla, the Brandon Township Library’s bookmobile.
The bookmobile is a large cargo truck, painted on the outside with a jungle scene and animals and filled
on the inside with about 3,000 books, on shelves lining the walls.
The Cardillos live in Sashabaw Meadows Mobile Home Park, where BookZilla comes twice a month on
Mondays. On those Mondays, stops are also made at Clarkston Lakes, Seymour Lake Estates and a home daycare owned by Pam Flood. Twice a month on Tuesdays, bookmobile stops are made at Ortonville Montessori, Sherman Life Long Learning and SteppingStone.
Denise Cardillo says she and daughter Alyssa, 7,stop at the Bookmobile whenever it comes.
‘It’s convenient,? she said. ‘The library isn’t that far away, but sometimes when you’re running errands, you just don’t make it over there.?
Today, Alyssa is looking for some Animal Ark books. Bookmobile clerks Donna Fadeley and Mary Davert don’t have those on the bookmobile, but they tell Alyssa they will look for them back at the library and bring them the next time.
Alyssa checks out four books, including ‘The Littles? and a book from the Boxcar Children series.
Checking out is made simpler because Fadeley and Davert keep bookmobile patrons? library cards on the
truck. Alyssa likes that. She also likes to walk to the bookmobile when the weather is nice.
BookZilla’s children section takes up almost one wall of the truck. There is fiction as well as non-fiction for the kids and also fiction and non-fiction for adults, although more children use the bookmobile than adults and teenagers.
‘I wish more adults would use it or high school and middle school students,? Davert said. ‘If they needed something for school they could call the library and we’d bring it.?
Davert and Fadeley rotate a different section of books every month, but books are added upon request
and items are added for different seasons.
Ann Stoner of Clarkston Lakes is one adult who is looking for books. She has brought her two children, Dean and Brittany Olsabeck, aged 9 and 7 respectively, but she is looking for some cookbooks.
‘I like the bookmobile because they’re here when you want them and I don’t have to drive to
Ortonville,? Stoner said.
The Brandon Township library bookmobile was begun in November 2001 as an outreach program of the library.
Fadeley, a bookmobile clerk since the beginning who also works in technical services and as an after-school monitor at the library, said it was started to reach people who weren’t able to get to the
library.
On days when the bookmobile is running, Fadeley and Davert see anywhere from 20-50 visitors, depending on the location. Word-of-mouth has increased the numbers.
December is a slower month, as are poor weather days. But in the summer, Fadeley says people come over in their bathing suits and she and Davert do reading programs in BookZilla.
‘Children who wouldn’t have access to books do now,? Fadeley said. ‘We’re reaching people who wouldn’t necessarily go to the library.?
For information on BookZilla and scheduled stop times, call (248) 627-1461.