Budget cuts to end longtime Bookmobile’s ride
By Kate York, kyork@mariettatimes.comAfter 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."
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Johanna
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12-05-08 2:01 AM
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Noel...I wish to you all that life can bring you...something more than you must have and someone that undestands you! A story with a happy ending!!! That's from a great movie...
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Johanna
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12-04-08 10:58 PM
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4whatit'sworth...I am very sarcastic at times..and I caught that in your blog which is why I thought that I offended you, orig. through someone else. Outlook...not sure of any answers though do know that people would appreciate any ideas to save this.
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outlook
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12-04-08 6:55 AM
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At 2.80 a book could they not mail them to people. Plus, I see used books really cheap on Amazon. Do they only hand out books? Videos? What about a charging people that use the book mobile. Is it run by the state or is it local?
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4whatitsworth
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12-04-08 2:02 AM
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Johanna, No you didn't offend me. I'm very hard to offend. As a matter of fact I'm usually the one who ends up doing the offending (not intentionally of course). I can be a bit sarcastic at times as I was with my last blog. However, although I don't use the bookmobile anymore, I occasionally pass by it on my way to work and see the kids there and it reminds me of my younger days. Sure hate to see it go.
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:46 AM
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Give me a chance to look into it. My Mother grew up in Morgan County and she worked on a Grant for a Mobile Medical Unit. She really wanted it for the folks that would not come in for Healthcare!
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:42 AM
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4whatitsworth..I honestly apologize for what you must be thinking. When I said that he was on to something..I was thinking of volunteers...not government.. I frequently joke on blogs with Johnny Ringo but they are harmless blogs that someone created.. If I have offended you, I am sorry. I do believe in this and I think we can find a fix for it...may take awhile..but it could happen.
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:35 AM
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Noel...have you noticed how you take the spirit out of people? When I joke with Johnny Ringo, it is harmless. You blog in on things that are serious and you make people feel bad. Why can't you stop being so angry at the world?
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:30 AM
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Noel..keep acting like the spoiled little rich boy that you are... isn't getting you anywhere.. 4whatitsworth...why are you listening to losers? It is worth saving...
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NoelTyler
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12-04-08 1:18 AM
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I'm assuming it's coming out of a government funded budget for the library. Doing a cost/benefit analysis, it obviously is not worth the money to the library board to keep it running. People will be angry about it, but believe me, no one will try to come up with answers to fix it. Complaining to the library won't help. If someone really wants it to keep going, they'll find a way. Advertise, outsource, anything. Start brainstorming. I just did the math and at 16,000 books in 2008 at 45,000 to deliver them that comes out to $2.80 a book. Kind of steep.
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4whatitsworth
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12-04-08 1:18 AM
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No sorry, I quit using it when I realized I needed to get a job and quit reading books so I could secure transportation to the library. Come to think of it, I believe all that time sitting around reading books was a big part in helping me get a job. Whoda thunk?
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:16 AM
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4whatit's worth...blog back tomorrow night..I need time to ask a few questions but I really don't want to see this lost! I don't use it but know how important it is to those who do!
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:12 AM
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4whatit'sworth...do you have connections to the Bookmobile...know her and have contact?
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:11 AM
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Noel, If I copied and pasted your blogs when you are in nasty mode...you'd run...try helping with issues instead of being an issue..
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Johanna
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12-04-08 1:09 AM
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Noel..maybe you are on to something there...but no one is asking for the government to pay for it ....
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4whatitsworth
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12-04-08 1:09 AM
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Who is asking the government for answers?
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NoelTyler
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12-04-08 1:03 AM
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Think outside the "mobile" people, on this one. The government isn't the answer to all problems.
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NoelTyler
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12-04-08 1:03 AM
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Who owns it anyway? Why don't they just get volunteers to drive it and find local businesses or even a corporation to pay for the gas (ie, McDonald's, WalMart) and rent out the sides of the bookmobile for advertising space, like the trolley does?
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Johanna
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12-04-08 12:56 AM
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Why can't this be fixed? Sounds as though there are more than a few that were in need of it and loved it...Don't let this one go. The community has recently come together for a lot of things..someone please blog back to give me an idea of where to go from here...
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Johanna
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12-04-08 12:52 AM
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OOps...4 Whatitsworth...sorry hit the wrong key obv!..
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Johanna
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12-04-08 12:51 AM
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$whatitsworth...Thank you!! Now how can we fix it and get it back for those who need it?
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4whatitsworth
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12-04-08 12:34 AM
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Johanna, I agree this is a great loss. I remember as a kid how excited I was when it came. Living 40 miles from the nearest library, access to books was hard to come by. I guess at 5 years old I was too immature to realize I needed to be out looking for a job instead of reading books. And for the record, Neither I nor any of my family have ever been on any kind of public assistance.
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Johanna
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12-03-08 10:39 PM
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Noel...for the record..I didn't ask the government to pay for it, did I?
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Johanna
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12-03-08 10:37 PM
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Wow, Noel..that is almost touching..but it's not. I don't care what you have worked in and revealed that is not important to you. The community is important to me and to a lot of people. I commend the people that want to read and know that this would have been very important to someone that believed in this type of thing.
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NoelTyler
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12-03-08 9:50 PM
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Johanna: It's not the government's job to deliver books to people's homes. It was a LUXURY while it lasted. There's no money for it anymore. I have been fortunate to work with the "needy" in a past career. From that personal experience I have, in large and small areas, I have an informed opinion about government waste. I have been in THOUSANDS of homes to visit people on all kinds of disability, WIC programs, social security programs, unemployment, etc. If you don't like my posts, don't read them. I, too, was once an angry liberal. It took years in my career to realize how wasteful we are with social programs. The fundamental value lacking in most of the clients I visited was responsibility.
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Johanna
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12-03-08 9:01 PM
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bwc511...You didn't get enough info. on the last blog? Tried to help you understand what you were so confused by.
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