When the Library Had Wheels
Grade school in the ’70s, The Bookmobile would periodically roll into the school parking lot like an educational ice cream truck.
The moment that bus arrived, we’d climb aboard and inhale that unmistakable aroma of old paper, diesel fumes and absolutely no concern for child safety.
The official purpose was presumably to encourage reading. In reality, you chose a book because the cover had a dinosaur, a haunted house, Bigfoot or a kid solving crimes.
There was always one kid who picked a book about math, science or something else suspiciously intelligent, thereby scheduling himself for a wedgie shortly after the Bookmobile departed.
Once you made your selection, the librarian stamped the little card in the back, providing documented proof that at least 14 children before you had sneezed directly into it.
There were no computers or barcodes. Just a librarian, the Dewey Decimal System and the very real possibility that the book you wanted had already been checked out by some kid named Todd who would never return it.
The Bookmobile was our Amazon Prime on wheels… if Amazon only visited occasionally, smelled like a city bus and threatened to fine you twelve cents.
Back when a bus full of books was all it took to make the school day exciting. I miss those days.
Steve
UNCONTROLLED SUBSTANCE 