ACDL’s Bookmobile has proudly served for over 17 years. It reaches more than 800 patrons every month across Ashtabula County, but these days it’s showing its age. Ongoing, costly maintenance has made it clear that it’s time for a new Bookmobile to hit the streets.

We began searching for a new bookmobile that was better suited to narrow country roads, imperfect parking lots, and new types of bookmobile stops. In March 2023, we contracted with Farber Specialty Vehicles out of Columbus, Ohio to have them build ACDL a new set of wheels for $367,000. 

We’ve steered away from the classic Blue Bird bus and have settled on a Ford F550 box truck. While we’re getting slightly less space for the collection, the truck will allow us to safely travel to a broader variety of locations. It comes with a book cart system that will allow us to quickly change the collection depending on the destination. Visiting a preschool? It’s time to load up on picture books. Now we’re going to a senior community? Let’s swap out the picture books for large print and audiobooks! The system will allow us to provide more tailored outreach service and a greater flexibility to travel to more places than ever before.

To modernize services, we’ll have a dual-carrier Wi-Fi router so we can share internet access wherever we go. We’ve also added up-to-date safety features and an ADA-approved wheelchair lift to ensure safety and accessibility.

If you haven’t guessed, we’re a bit excited! Completion and final delivery are set for late summer or early fall, and then we’re going to hit the road like never before.