BPL Bookmobile Media Day Postponed from March 25 to March 31 at BJCTA Due to Inclement Weather Threat

What: Bookmobile Media Day for the Birmingham Public Library and Birmingham-Jefferson 

Date: Thursday, March 25, 2021 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Location: BJCTA-MAX Central Station, 1701 Morris Ave. Birmingham, Alabama 35203

Details: The Board of Directors from BJCTA unveils the donation of a para-transit bus to the BPL Board of Trustees to provide mobile library services by bookmobile to the 99 neighborhoods of the City of Birmingham. This valuable service is an innovative approach to bridging the digital divide and expanding citizen services to underserved communities.

“We are delighted to be able to donate a decommissioned paratransit vehicle to the Birmingham Public Library, as well as to partner with them to offer access to library services to our customers while they wait at Central Station or travel on our buses,” said Frank T. Martin, Executive Director and CEO of BJCTA.

Birmingham, Ala. – The Board of Directors from Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) and the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) Board of Trustees have postponed a “2021 BPL Bookmobile Media Day” originally scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 25, 2021.

The event has been rescheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, at BJCTA-MAX Central Station, 1701 Morris Ave., Birmingham, 35203. Journalists and elected officials are 

cordially invite journalists to attend.

Board members and administration from both BPL and BJCTA will announce details of the mobile library (bookmobile) service, scheduled to premiere later this year. Thanks to a donation of a vehicle by BJCTA and partnership with a local developer, Ed Ticheli (American Life Lofts), BPL will fabricate and outfit the former paratransit bus to bookmobile service for patrons.

BPL is seeking individual and corporate sponsorship to further support the bookmobile initiative. The vehicle will be called BPL Mobile. “This is such a wonderful way for the Library to go to the communities and showcase our services to our citizens. We welcome the opportunity to partner with other organizations as a vehicle to help improve our citizen’s lives,” said Eunice Johnson Rogers, president of the BPL Board of Trustees.

During the BPL Bookmobile Media Day, media will hear the following:

 • About the Bookmobile Donation (Frank T. Martin, BJCTA Executive Director and CEO; Eunice J. Rogers, BPL Board President) 

 • Expansion of the BPL/BJCTA Partnership (Willie S. Davis, III, BPL Board Vice-President & member of BJCTA Board of Directors, and Ted Smith, BJCTA Board Chairman) 

 • Developments and Partnership (Ed Ticheli, Developer) 

 • Presentation of the bookmobile para-transit key to BPL officials (Frank T. Martin of BJCTA) 

  

 • Closing Remarks (BPL Interim Director Janine Langston) 

 This is the first time BJCTA has donated one of its paratransit vehicles to BPL, and the first such donation of its kind in BPL history. “We are delighted to be able to donate a decommissioned paratransit vehicle to the Birmingham Public Library, as well as to partner with them to offer access to library services to our customers while they wait at Central Station or travel on our buses,” said Frank T. Martin, Executive Director and CEO of BJCTA. 

James A. Sullivan, a member of the Birmingham Public Library Board of Trustees, said the BPL bookmobile project will benefit the entire City of Birmingham. “Today's partnerships and love of people are the only way to ensure neighborhoods and communities are better tomorrow,” Sullivan said.

Willie S. Davis III, who serves on the boards of both BPL and the BJCTA, said it is an exciting moment to see the bookmobile project taken from concept to fruition. “This is a game changer for BPL and it shows that we are doing what we can to bring services to our community," said Davis, who serves as Vice President of the BPL Board of Trustees.

The Birmingham Public Library is proud of its 135-year history serving the City of Birmingham, said Janine Langston, BPL’s Interim Director. “We look forward to the future and new opportunities to provide library services with the launch of the Bookmobile partnership.”

History of Bookmobiles 

 For more than a century, bookmobiles have been a popular outreach method used by public libraries across the United States. Read this Alabama History blog for background. Alabama Yesterdays: Alabama Library History: Bookmobiles

 Bookmobiles are mobile libraries designed to carry books, DVDs and other libraries materials to neighborhoods throughout the cities they serve. Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes bookmobiles as simply “a traveling library.” 

 According to The News Wheel (https://thenewswheel.com/what-exactly-is-a-bookmobile/), bookmobiles got their start over a century ago when librarian Mary Titcomb used her horse-drawn library wagon to serve rural areas in Washington County, Maryland. The first motorized bookmobile began in 1912 and soon helped spread literary across the country.

 BPL Bookmobile History 

BPL Bookmobile from the 1950s

The donated paratransit vehicle from BJCTA will be fabricated into BPL’s first bookmobile in decades. 

 BPL’s Archives department has historic photos of bookmobile, called the Birmingham Public Library Traveling Branch, from the 1950s that shows a line of children waiting to get books. 

 The March 31 BPL Bookmobile Media Day will occur a week before National Bookmobile Day is observed across the country on Wednesday, April 7, as part of the American Library Association’s 2021 observance of 2021 National Library Week (April 4-10).

 ABOUT BPL 

For additional information about the programs and services of the Birmingham Public Library, visit our website at www.cobpl.org and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BPL. The mission of Birmingham Public Library is to provide the highest quality experience to our community for life-long learning, cultural enrichment, and enjoyment. This system—with 18 locations and serving the community for over 130 years—is one of the largest library systems in the Southeast. 

 ABOUT BJCTA 

The Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority is the public transportation leader in Central Alabama. The Authority averages three million riders per year and has close to 300 employees. For more information, visit www.maxtransit.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.