To pilot a bookmobile, one needs a love of books, a friendly disposition and stamina, not to mention the skill to maneuver a 28-foot-long library on wheels.
Having a strong constitution can help, say those who know.
“We don’t get many pit stops,” joked Allen Gordon of Zion, a bookmobile driver/clerk with the Zion-Benton Public Library, as he sat one recent day at the helm of the library’s 1976 Gerstenslager.
Gordon was one of 72 public library employees from Illinois and Wisconsin attending the Bookmobile Conference and Roundup at the Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee.
The daylong conference is held each year at a different library, and one goal is to share ideas, such as marketing innovations, organizers said.
Eight bookmobiles and a van were displayed in the Gurnee library’s parking lot, and conference participants from as far as Decatur toured the vehicles after a morning learning session.
The bookmobiles represented towns including Waukegan, Skokie , Arlington Heights, Orland Park and Chicago.
The bookmobile from Cook Memorial Public Library in Libertyville, which has a safari theme for its summer reading program, played jungle music over a loudspeaker.
Bookmobile staffer Bill Penne of Libertyville donned a safari hat, vest and binoculars for the occasion. Gordon, who has worked with Zion-Benton’s bookmobile for 4 1/2 years, said children are the best part of his job. About 225 youngsters sign up for the summer reading program, he said.
Gordon echoed the sentiments of many at the conference when he described the close relationship staffers develop with regular patrons.
“We’re more intimate on the bookmobile,” he said. “Some of ’em (patrons) can hardly wait until the next time you stop so they can talk about . . . what’s going on in their lives.”
Audrey Sesko of Wildwood has worked on the Warren-Newport Public Library’s bookmobile for 19 years, she said. The bookmobile handles about 10 percent of the library’s total circulation, officials said.
“It’s been my psychiatry,” Sesko said, explaining that if she is troubled by personal problems, “you just have to have one kid come on and you forget.”
Sesko said she has worked on the bookmobile long enough to know patrons who once checked out Dr. Seuss books and now take home Jackie Collins novels.
“I can’t see where I could have another job where I could have the new books and the enjoyment of the public and get paid for what I do,” Sesko said. “It’s really rewarding.”
