Library's new bookmobile to hit road this summer
A pricey replacement for Windsor Public Library's broken-down branch on wheels will burn rubber and bring books to the city this summer.
The library's new bookmobile is currently on a production line in Columbus, Ohio, and is expected to be road-ready in June. After that, the 32-foot literary behemoth will be wrapped in the library's graphic design and shipped to Windsor in July.
“I've heard from the community, since becoming chair of the library board, people are excited for it,” Ward 4 councillor and library board chair Mark Mckenzie said after Tuesday's board meeting.
“Now that the weather is warming, people are saying, `When's the bookmobile going to be here?' ”
He told the Windsor Star the new vehicle came in slightly under its budget of $600,000, though he did not know its exact price tag.
Windsor city council approved $600,000 for a new bookmobile in August 2022. Its predecessor — a
2005 30-foot step-up truck bought in 2016 for $15,000 — died on Lauzon Parkway in 2020 when its axle broke for the third time.
The funding council approved for a new bookmobile came from Windsor Public Library's project surpluses. At the time, four significant library projects completed in the years prior and priced at more than $10 million combined were finished on time and under budget, leaving roughly $600,000 unspent.
Council had a few options for spending the project surpluses: creating a maintenance reserve fund, transferring funds to the permanent downtown branch project, or returning funds to their original accounts. Council ended up granting the library board its request to purchase a replacement bookmobile.
“I want that thing out at every festival,” Mckenzie said on Tuesday. “I want it on the road seven days a week, ideally. It's going to be a busy summer for the bookmobile.”
The bookmobile will be able to hold around 2,000 books.
One or two drivers will be hired to operate the library on wheels.
Another project in the works at the library is the hunt for a permanent central branch. The library has between four and six years to find a new home for its downtown collection, which is currently in the Paul Martin Building on Ouellette Avenue. In December, the city announced it had sold that building to a private developer, who will convert it into a boutique hotel.
“We're looking at a number of different locations that might be available to us,” said Michael Chantler, interim library CEO.
Windsor Public Library is currently working to determine what square footage the new central branch will require.
“We're in no rush,” said Mckenzie. “This library is going to be there for the next 50, maybe even 100 years. We want to make sure that it's the right location for it.”