ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (January 4, 2020) — Our new Library2Go Mobile Library vehicle starts a regular route schedule Monday, January 6, 2020.
You're invited to join us at the official ribbon cutting:
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
2:30PM remarks and ribbon cutting
Across from Earl Hanson Elementary School
(Mobile Library parked from 2:30-4PM)
Coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies will be served, and you'll get a chance to visit during the Mobile Library's regular "Red Week" Tuesday afternoon stop. Pick up your free Library2Go keychain tag, while supplies last!
Library2Go runs on a two-week rotating "Red Week" and "Blue Week" schedule Mondays-Thursdays. Friday is reserved for pop-up days, and Saturday for special events and outreach. 24 scheduled stops include schools, parks, churches, shopping areas, and other community sites within the library’s Rock Island and extended Milan service area.
Copies of the schedule are available at library locations, or you can download it here. Find the schedule on our website under the "Download It" shortcut and also on the library events calendar.
Friday pop-ups will be posted on Facebook. You can also verify the schedule at 309-732-7369.
More about the Mobile Library
It’s been at least 30 years since the Rock Island Public Library had a mobile vehicle. Attendees at library community conversations in 2018 identified a mobile library as a means of achieving the library’s strategic goal of building stronger community connections. Acquiring a mobile library by 2020 was part of the library’s 2019-2022 Strategic Plan.
Working in partnership with the City of Rock Island Public Works Department revealed the availability of an existing 2014 Ford F59 Walk-in Van bookmobile at LDV Custom Specialty Vehicles of Burlington, Wisconsin. The library purchased the $165,000 vehicle with a $100,000 grant from the Rock Island Public Library Foundation and additional existing budget dollars.
Named “Library2Go,” the Mobile Library was wrapped by Edwards Creative, of Milan, Illinois. Library2Go includes a mobile lift for accessibility and on-board WiFi hot-spot technology for digital access. Books and other collections on the vehicle will adjust, depending on the needs of specific stops. City Public Works will help maintain the vehicle as part of the City fleet. Additional funding for technology was provided by a census grant through the Doris and Victor Day Foundation.
For information about bringing Library2Go to your business or event as an outreach vehicle, please call 309-732-7369 to leave a message for the Mobile Library coordinator.
