SHEFFIELD -- Joining the milkman and so many other personalized services from a bygone era, the bookmobile will soon make its last stop in the Berkshires.
The Western Massachusetts Library System bookmobile, which has served the area for nearly 70 years, will make its last delivery at the end of December, as state budget cuts and interlibrary loans -- which allow libraries across the region to trade materials with each other -- have forced the service to be discontinued.
"It is old-fashioned and very much loved by the people who use it," said Mary King, regional librarian for the Western Massachusetts Library system. "We're very sorry to stop doing this."
Serving 50 different communities in Berkshire, Hampshire Hampden and Franklin counties as part of the state-funded, nonprofit library system, the bookmobile has traditionally stopped at smaller libraries, including 22 libraries in the Berkshires. It allows librarians to peruse the collection and select several hundred books which can be borrowed for up to two months at no cost.
"For communities that aren't particularly wealthy," said Nancy Hahn, librarian at the Bushnell-Sage Library in Sheffield, "it's a huge boost to have these materials come in at no additional cost."
The state's first bookmobile began operating in Pittsfield in 1940, and was incorporated in the Western Massachusetts Library System in the 1960s. Currently, the Western Massachusetts
With a budget of $1.5 million, funded almost entirely through the state, the Library System already had $54,000 cut from this year's budget. And their materials funding, which was as much as $250,000 a decade ago, was only $5,000 this year.
Couple that with an expected loss of 28 percent of next year's budget and possibility for an expanded western region due to the potential closing of one or more regional offices, and the decision to end the service had to be made, King said.
"We saw the writing was on the wall," she said, in a phone interview from her Whately office. "We needed to stop putting this truck out."
None of the three bookmobile drivers, however, will lose their jobs, as they will still be making book deliveries.
And while libraries will still be able to use interlibrary loans and order large amounts of general genres, librarians will no longer be able to pick specific books they think patrons would enjoy.
"It just enhanced the collection in these tiny towns," said King. "You got a lot of use out of everything the regional library brought."
Beyond that, Hahn said visits from the bus-sized bookmobile, which featured carpeting, lighting and wooden shelves, became a social event for all those involved.
"I just love it. I love the excitement around the bookmobile," said Hahn. "It really brings a lot of joy to people."
"I think it's sad. It's the end of an era," said Deb O'Brien, library coordinator at the New Marlborough Library. "Our kids won't get to know the things we had."
When the New Marlborough Library burned down in 1996, the library on wheels served made a temporary home in the South County town.
"Without them, it would have been impossible for us to be open when we didn't have a building," she said.
To reach Trevor Jones: tjones@berkshireeagle.com, or (413) 528-3660.
Font Resize
