After logging six years and thousands of miles bringing books, movies and music to the most remote places in Washington, Monroe and Noble counties, Beth Wright's Bookmobile route is about to get a lot shorter.
Starting Jan. 1, Washington County will no longer have its longtime Bookmobile services due to budget cuts and residents will lose a service on which they've come to depend.
"Everyone is very sad," said Wright, who mans the Bookmobile, a cooperative effort of the Washington County and Caldwell public libraries, along with Jeff Moore. "One lady was in tears when we told her. We become part of their lives and they become part of ours - people plan their doctor's appointments around us."
From materials for parents who homeschool their children to large-print books for elderly residents no longer able to make it to a library branch, the Bookmobile was a valuable extension of a traditional library, said Justin Mayo, Washington County Public Library director.
"With the Bookmobile, you get a different client," he said. "Some are shut-ins or people who just really want to stay local."
Consumers can add Mayo to the list of people who are disappointed the service is ending, he said, but an expected budget cut of about $175,000 next year made it a necessity.
"We're projecting about a 10 percent decrease next year," he said. "We're cutting back on materials, not giving raises, limiting some programming, but the big thing was the Bookmobile. It costs us more than $45,000 a year and affects the smallest number of people."
There are no statistics on how many people are served by the Bookmobile but its circulation numbers have been on a steady upswing for several years.
In 2006, 11,437 materials were loaned out and in 2007 that number jumped to 13,299. So far in 2008, 16,741 Bookmobile items have been loaned to consumers, even without numbers yet for November and December and a loss of service during much of August for repairs.
"This just breaks my heart," said Holly Cunningham, of Newport, a longtime Bookmobile customer. "In this area, I think it's really critical. When gas was so high, people didn't want to drive to New Matamoras or Marietta to go to the library. This reaches a lot of people."
Cunningham's sons Evan, 6, and C.J., 12, are Bookmobile regulars who count on new materials every two weeks.
"They have a lot of different books you can choose from," said C.J. "My little brother probably gets 18 books at a time."
C.J. has special-ordered books for school projects and sometimes Wright and Moore have surprised the family with new offerings after finding out the boys' interests, said Cunningham.
"They got me special American Queen books," said her son, Evan.
"He's a fanatic about steamboats and when we told them that they surprised us with a stack of books and videotapes about them," Holly Cunningham said. "They took such an interest."
Evan read or had read to him more than 100 Bookmobile books this summer, she said, and the whole family will miss the service.
"I'll probably be bored now," said C.J. "We used it a lot."
The Bookmobile travels to 15 locations in Washington County, from Macksburg to Little Hocking and Cutler to Wingett Run and stops at some very busy sites, said Wright.
"Lowell is one of our very busiest stops," she said. "In the summertime, we're there for an hour-and-a-half, and it's just constant. We pull in and there are people there the whole time."
It's a service that's dying out in many areas, said Mayo, not just in Washington County.
"I was at a meeting of library administrators recently and only four of 12 still have a Bookmobile," he said. "In a lot of places, it's being cut."
If funding could be found, it's possible Bookmobile service could be restored someday, said Mayo.
"If the money comes back, we'd love for it to come back," he said. "Circulation was up, and we'd really started promoting it."
