Alaska BookMobile

After retiring from service with the Allegheny Library Association, a classic bookmobile from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania made the long trip to Alaska, now calling Anchorage home. With a little love and some planning we are going to put the bookmobile back to work in Alaska.

Bookmobiles are relatively common in the Lower 48, but we are pretty sure this will be the first one in Anchorage. This project will involve reimagining the bookmobile, including some work on the bus itself, organizing, acquiring books and asking questions about what a mobile library can be?

Over the years Anchorage has seen many libraries close around town and brick and mortar all ages, community and artist run spaces have often had a difficult time staying open. In conversation with other community members and organizations the idea of a more nimble, mobile space has come up time and time again. We hope for the bookmobile to not only be such a space, but to also have the ability to collaborate and make connections between other groups. For example, we have already spoken to Anchorage Community House and Out North Contemporary Art about partnering up, and the Anchorage Parks Foundation about setting up some sort of series of scheduled park visits over the course of the summer, building on their earlier Artist in the Parks endeavors.

We plan to approach this project as artists, thinking creatively in how we understand the possible interpretations and applications of a library on wheels. This creative perspective will shape our decision making, from the bookmobile's content and organization, to its possible alternative uses as a venue for art, music and performance. 

Firstly, we will be doing some minor work on the bus. Over the ride north a few things shook loose and there are a couple cosmetic issues that need to be dealt with. The most important is getting electricity back to the wheelchair lift, so the bus can remain accessible.

After these initial repairs we will begin to decide what form the mobile library will take. Asking what a library is? What services a bookmobile could provide in Alaska? Free wifi hot spot? Charging station? Voter registration? Free wool socks? A library is a lot more than a collection of books! 

We will also determine what type of library the bookmobile will be. Lending library? Take a book leave a book? What categories and organizational system we will use? What other types of media could be shared through the bookmobile? We want to make it accessible, free and open to the public. We also want it to inspire art and creativity, and to showcase the work of local Alaskan creators. 

We will then do some basic interior remodeling to make the bookmobile as effective as possible, while keeping it a flexible space. For example, the carpeting is 20 years old and pretty filthy and the lighting is old/bulky florecent fixtures. Small improvements, like changing these things out will make the library more welcoming. 

All along the way we will begin to get different people involved through social media, our informal Friends of the Library Association, working with creatives and cultural producers in the area to create events, partnering with existing gatherings like farmers markets and festivals, offering pop ups and classes, and generally getting out there. 

By the summer of 2020 we hope to have the bookmobile and the library it carries fully functional and out and about around town, as well as throughout the state. 

As a result of a variety of circumstances, serendipity and timing there is a bookmobile in town. It is in amazing shape considering its age and we think that it is worth trying to bring it out of retirement, as apposed to converting it to a food truck or camper. And with a little help we can make this happen. 

This is an artist led project. We see the creation of safe spaces for the communication of ideas and for starting conversations within community as an important part of socially based artistic practices. We are undertaking this project as a means to address a need we see in the city of Anchorage in a way that is rooted in both the history and symbolism of the library, and in the inovative/creative approach to problem solving that accompanies an artistic perspective.  

We are specifically starting this fundraising campaign to get started on fixing up the bus. We will be applying to other funding sources too, but many of these, if received, will not be able to provide support until the spring. With your help we will be able to begin earlier, helping make some winter pop-ups possible and making our goal to be fully operational by the summer of 2020 more doable.