Many of you may not even know about the bookmobile that used to operate in this area. I am not sure how many years it was around, but I know for sure it operated from the late sixties until the eighties.

We were frequent visitors when my youngsters were growing up. The children looked forward to the day the bookmobile would park by Hale’s Red and White Store. That was the day we got to exchange our books. The children picked out their own books that they wanted me to read to them. I picked out some books for myself. Every two weeks we could exchange them.

Rural patrons really enjoyed this. If they wanted to borrow something specific, they called the library in Warren and asked to have it put on the bookmobile. When the bookmobile visited the next time, it brought the books. The people who worked on the bookmobile were so friendly. They helped you find whatever you were looking for.

When I taught at the Russell Elementary School the bookmobile made a visit there. Each class had a time to visit. Every day I read a book to my class. My students often asked for extra copies of the book that I was reading so they could follow along or get ahead as they wished. They caught on to a certain author and requested additional books by that author.

The bookmobile also visited Russell by the United Methodist Church. If it was not convenient for me to get to Akeley at the time it visited there, I caught up to it in Russell.

Another day they visited Lander. I used it while I taught there as well. I remember my class reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books after I finished reding the first one.

I started story time at the Warren County Fair. The bookmobile was visiting there during fair week. I arranged to have a series of books brought to the fair. Each day we visited a certain area of the fair. Someone from that area told the children about their exhibit. They got to see and pet the animals. I also solicited prizes from local merchants. Each day someone got a prize. They had to draw the red button from the bag to win.

There is a young lady who now has her own family and attends the fair who came every day with her mother. Most of the adults chose to go with us to the exhibits so they sort of tagged along. I really enjoyed reading to the children. I also enjoyed teaching them about things at the fair. On the day we visited the horse we heard stories about horses. On the day we visited the chickens and rabbits we had stories about them.

I was sorry when the bookmobile stopped making its visits. I think everyone in the rural areas was. Oh, they could drive into the library in town, but it was not the same.

When my grandchildren were able to read, I took them to the library during the summer. Two of the children were avid readers, but the third one was a reluctant reader. I always had to help him find some books that he could enjoy. I recall when I was going to New York City with the girls, he was disappointed because he knew the author of one of the series of books he read lived in New York. I guess he thought he might see her.

After a stop at the public library, we went somewhere to eat our lunch. The older ones were anxious to get home to read their new books. The younger one not so much.

I remember borrowing a book by Karen Kingsbury about 911. There were two separate books about it, but it was in the same volume. My granddaughter read the book after I finished. She took it to school and asked for the teacher’s approval for a book report. The teacher okayed the book. She did her report on the first book. The teacher rejected it saying she had to do both of them. I felt bad because I had suggested the book. I did not think it was fair because each book was separate. She got it done within the time limit given, but it was a sore subject. After that she was careful not to select a book like that again.

The reluctant reader knew about the little church that had the notes and letters where people hoped to find a loved one. It was mentioned in that book his sister read. When we visited New York the next year he asked if we could visit that church. We fulfilled his request. We not only visited the church but we visited the 911 Memorial. We spent a lot of time reading the information. What a wonderful way to spend a day in New York.

Ann Swanson Russell, PA. Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.