GARLAND COUNTY, Ark. – A new bookmobile is bringing the library to all corners of Garland County. 

The library hit the road for the first time Thursday, going to the Green Market in Hot Springs Village.

Bettye Johnson, an avid reader, stopped by the bookmobile today to pick up her reserved books. 

“I don’t want to drive into Hot Springs to go to the library. It’s too far just to go get a book,” Johnson said.

She wanted a way more convenient way to read, and with the bookmobile, books are delivered to her door. 

“You go online and reserve a book and when that book is ready to be picked up, they will automatically just deliver to your house,” Johnson said.

In an effort to bring the library to the people, Outreach Coordinator James Nowlin and the library team got to work on how they could reach everyone. 

“We’re really just trying to get out and show people that they can read,” Nowlin said.  

He said they’re hoping to spark a love of reading in everyone.

“The purpose of our bookmobile is to bring library services to people who have difficulty getting to our site in Hot Springs,” Nowlin said.  

For people who use the library for internet, the bookmobile has that too.

“We’ll have publicly accessible Wi-Fi, our library has Wi-Fi and internet access, we’re trying to provide that since we’re basically an extension of the library,” Nowlin said.
Hoping to increase reading throughout the county, the bookmobile will take words on wheels to more people in the area in the coming months.

“As an avid reader it’s just so nice to be able to have that convenience and to know you can get the book that you want to read without having to buy it,” Johnson said.