Bookmobiles

The first bookmobile in Miami began in January of 1928. Since then, bookmobiles have been the bearers of books and carriers of culture for patrons in outlying areas. At the program’s peak in 1979, the county maintained about 20 bookmobiles that fanned out all over Dade County. People checked out 293,000 books from the mobile libraries that year. At the time, the county also maintained about 18 brick-and-mortar libraries. With costs rising and the library system opening extra branches, the traveling library program started to wane in the early 1990’s. But bookmobiles live on: The current bookmobile service began in 2001 with two 37 foot vehicles serving public parks, community centers and shopping malls. The service was expanded in 2007 when two additional 29-foot vehicles were purchased.

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