Homer Township Public Library

Bookmobile Staff and History

Bookmobile Staff

• Jody Olivieri is the Bookmobile Manager who oversees staff and makes sure everything runs smoothly. Jody has earned a Master's Degree in Library Information Science. She makes book selections for the Bookmobile & Outreach collection, develops programming, and is well-versed in outreach services, having implemented the recent A+ Outreach Grant: We Care About Day Care.
• Kitty Mitchell, our Youth Services Librarian, visits many school stops and some neighborhood stops. She is our expert on children's literature and programming.
• Mary Woolley, our Outreach Coordinator, serves as a liaison for area Seniors and is a familiar face for both Marian and Victorian Village residents. Mary provides VIP delivery service to homebound residents and also coordinates a "library on wheels" collection at both senior villages.
• Library Circulation and Youth Services staff members rotate monthly on Bookmobile duty, so customers will see many familiar faces from our regular staff.

History of Our Wheels

Planning for additional outreach services was a high priority for the library, which sought a grant for implementing bookmobile service. The Homer Library received a $150,000 bookmobile grant award, and the process of building a new state-of-the-art bus began in 2004. Scheduled to hit the road in early 2006, our bus features a core collection of new materials for children, teens, and adults including books, magazines, and audio/visual materials.

Our Bookmobile was manufactured by Thomas Built Buses and customized by Matthews Specialty Vehicles. It is 36' 8" long, 8' wide and 12' 6' high. Fully loaded, it weighs approximately 14 tons and can hold 5,000 books. It has a wheelchair lift, air conditioning, diesel engine, generator, and a TV/VCR.