A "supermobile" library providing a range of advanced
services to remote communities in North Yorkshire will begin
operating a new schedule later this month.
From October 24, North Yorkshire County Council's supermobile
will call at twenty two locations on a rolling fortnightly
timetable. Unlike the conventional mobile libraries, which were
withdrawn last month, the supermobile offers a superior service,
carrying around 3,000 items of stock - including books, DVDs,
videos, and audio books - and offering internet access via
satellite.
The supermobile will remain at each location for two hours,
providing a much longer opportunity for users to take advantage of
the service.
"We know, of course, that the withdrawal of the mobile libraries
created concerns for people who valued their service and who live
in the more remote parts of the county," said Councillor Chris
Metcalfe, Executive Member for North Yorkshire.
"What we are trying to do here is to offer a much improved
replacement. While the supermobile will not be able to replicate
the routes of all the mobiles entirely, we have drawn up a schedule
which attempts to ensure that people living furthest away from our
library network will have the opportunity to borrow books and audio
and video items from a much larger range of stock, with the added
benefit of internet access."
He added: "By designing a schedule based on two-hourly stops, we
hope that the supermobile might in time become a focal point for
other community services, much in the way that static
building-based libraries are used by a wide range of organisations
such as citizens' advice.
"We are already working actively with partners to think about
using these visits as focal points to involve other agencies and
community activity."
In addition to the introduction of the new supermobile schedule,
the Home Library Service has been extended to accommodate the needs
of users of the former mobile library service, and the service is
also in discussion with a number of communities with plans to set
up book collections in village halls, etc.
supermobile timetable