Image Courtesy Hays Public Library Bookmobile
By ELI BLANKINSHIP
Tiger Media Network
As students approach the midway point of the semester, many are taking full advantage of the resources and events hosted on campus and in the community. Of those resources, the Hays Public Library’s Bookmobile is hard to miss, with its green facade and outdoor speakers that typically play music to attract visitors.
Hays Public Library purchased the Bookmobile in 2019 to make the library more accessible to all members of the Hays community and surrounding areas.
“I think the best part about the bookmobile is the fact that we have a little bit of everything for everybody,” said Hays Public Library’s Outreach Coordinator Mae Moore. “For someone who’s not an avid reader or a big reader at all, I think just finding the right book is what will turn it around.”
The Bookmobile made its first stop of the year at FHSU on September 9 and will continue to make appearances in front of Tebo Library every other Wednesday this school year.
“I come in after my last class of the day, so I have enough time to come in and actually browse the books,” said freshman Jenna Percival. “They have a lot of good books in there, so that’s awesome. I just like being able to have a place to come in and return the books that I have and get more, and not have to leave campus.”
September is library card sign-up month at the library, a perfect opportunity to become acquainted with the resources the public library offers.
“This month, if you don’t have a library card, we can make you one,” Moore said. “Whether it’s on [the Bookmobile] or at the library, you will be entered for a prize drawing for all sorts of different things. Get your library card, get something cool, and get some books too.”
In addition to visiting FHSU, the Bookmobile makes stops at local senior centers, Hays and Ellis County parks, and local events such as the Downtown Hays Market.
“We have so many regular people that come on here that wouldn’t [normally] be able to get out to the library,” Moore said. “A lot of the older folks in town…they don’t have a car or they can’t drive, [so] this is their accessibility for [the library].”
The Bookmobile will return to campus from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Totally go check it out,” Percival said. “You’ll probably find something that you like, and if not, [Mae] is very helpful and wonderful.”
A full schedule of the Bookmobile’s whereabouts can be found on the Hays Public Library’s website.
Story submitted as part of Convergent Media Lab, a course within the Department of Computer Science and Informatics at Fort Hays State University