150 YEARS STRONG

Books on Wheels

In 1904, the Washington County Free Library in Hagerstown, Maryland, outfitted a wagon with bookshelves to serve as a mobile library unit to reach people who could not normally make it to the library. A few times a week, the book wagon was able to reach rural areas of the county and deliver books to residents.

The Washington County Free Library book wagon would meet a tragic end in 1910 when it was struck by a freight train at a railway crossing. This event would suspend the county’s library extension service as there were no funds to purchase a new wagon. However, in 1912, a generous donation of $2,500 by William Kealhofer, Esq. allowed the library to replace the book wagon. Instead of getting another horse drawn wagon, the library purchased a truck that could be fitted with shelves to hold 300 books.[1] The truck allowed the library to extend its reach by being able to add more routes.

Washington County Free Library's bookmobile
Washington County Free Library's bookmobile, courtesy of Washington County Free Library.

The idea spread to other parts of the country. In Evanston, Illinois, a book wagon served the town as poor transportation made it difficult to reach the library. This provided many immigrant families with access to the library. Hibbing, Minnesota, had an automobile that could carry a thousand books and even had its own librarian desk. The bookmobile made rounds that included mining camps, where one man from the camp stated that he walked three miles to get to the bookmobile.[2]

The ALA supported the concept of a mobile library unit after it was introduced to the ALA during the 1909 Annual Conference by Mary Titcomb.[3] Afterwards the ALA produced pamphlets and other educational materials on how to setup book wagons and short case studies of its success. By 1929 the ALA Committee on Library Extension reported that there were at least 56 bookmobiles in operation in the country. The committee even wrote up specifications for a bookmobile, including the make of the vehicle, how to install bookshelves, and even where to store a spare tire.[4]

Pamphlet by the ALA, 1921, from the ALA Archives.
1921 ALA pamphlet on book wagons, from the ALA Archives.

The simple idea of bringing the library to the people had a significant impact. People, who only had sporadic access to the library or none at all, were suddenly able to browse through hundreds of books via the bookmobile. As Mary Titcomb said at the 1909 Annual Conference, “The book goes to the man. We do not wait for the man to come to the book.”[5]

Additional information on the beginnings of the bookmobile can be found in Angela Jordan’s post, “Have Books, Will Travel,” on the ALA Archives blog.

Citations

[1] “Book Wagons: The County Library with Rural Delivery,” 1921, Bookmobile Publications, Record Series 29/7/4, American Library Association Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Papers and Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the American Library Association, (Chicago, 1909), pg. 150, Record Series 5/1/2, American Library Association Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[4] “Tentative Specifications for Book Automobiles,” 1929, Bookmobile Publications, Record Series 29/7/4, American Library Association Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[5] Papers and Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the American Library Association, (Chicago, 1909), pg. 151, Record Series 5/1/2, American Library Association Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

This story first appeared on the ALA Archives blog on May 22, 2014.

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

An index card tracking an ALA conference exhibition hall exhibitor from 1924-1947.

The Heartbeat of the Hall: 150 Years of Exhibitors Who Shaped Our Conference

ALA Conference Services June 3, 2026

Every year as the doors of ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition swing open, the exhibition hall comes alive. It is a ritual that has been repeated, refined, and reimagined throughout ALA’s 150-year history. And at the center of it all, providing the innovations, solutions, and partnerships that have propelled our profession forward, are the exhibitors. To mark this milestone, we look back at the rich history of exhibitors at the conference—where it began, how it grew, and why, 150 years on, the exhibition floor remains one of the most vital spaces in our professional world.

Librarian at the Reference Desk in Camp Johnston Library, from the ALA Archives.

Charles R. Green at Camp Johnston: ‘We Can Find Such a Man’

Cara Bertram May 28, 2026

During the summer of 1918, Charles Green, a librarian from the Massachusetts Agriculture College, served as the Acting Librarian for Camp Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida. While his tenure was brief, the Charles R. Green Papers in the American Library Association (ALA) Archives reveal Green’s rapid appointment and promotion. It also shows how quickly circumstances could change within the ALA’s Library War Service and the adaptability of its volunteers.

Detail of letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee.

‘Nothing Could Have Astonished Me More’: The Challenge of Consumer Reports

Cara Bertram May 21, 2026

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. As a result, Ohio schools banned the use of Consumer Reports in the classroom. While the ban was short-lived, the questions about it were not and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee noticed the attempts to ban the publication.

A detail from the Library Bill of Rights, 1967.

The History of the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

Faith McConnon May 19, 2026

To financially support librarians who have been denied employment rights or discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, age, disability, or place of national origin or denied employment rights because of their defense of intellectual freedom, ALA created the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund, named in honor of a staunch defender of intellectual freedom and editor of ALA’s Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.

A Seat at the Table feature graphic

A Seat at the Table: Reflections from Eight ALA Trailblazers

American Libraries May 14, 2026

For 150 years, the American Library Association has shaped the landscape of libraries and the profession itself—but its leadership has often reflected the racial and gender biases of society at large. American Libraries spoke with eight barrier-busting Association leaders about their struggles, triumphs, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. The stories and lessons they share reveal how diversity fuels and transforms the power of libraries everywhere.