This story was originally published by Richland Source in 2015.
Richland County is fortunate to have nine locations of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library, so that from any corner of the land there is a cultural resource within reach.
These branches came into existence only in the last 30 to 40 years. Before that the work of sharing library materials was carried out by the Bookmobile.
It started in the 1920s when the Bookmobile made regular stops at Plymouth, Bellville, Lucas, Little Washington, Newville and Shenandoah.
The Bookmobile was a surrogate branch location all around Mansfield for decades — in fact they called the trailer facility the Branchmobile. It was a familiar sight in the parking lots of shopping centers around town until the end of the 1980s when the traveling books finally had places to become rooted in permanent branch locations.
In recent years, M/RCPL redefined the old Bookmobile idea by establishing a Books-to-Go service, with a portrait of the Library on the side of the van that made it pretty unmistakable in traffic.
Today there is a new outreach van, familiar on county roads and city streets, that carries on the work of extension, making deliveries to the lobbies of Senior living facilities and nursing homes.
Many of these images come from the archives of the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library.
