Good afternoon constant reader.
You've doubtless heard about food truck centers - trucks converted
to purveyors of yummy cuisine, usually found in a one stop area with
other food trucks, where anything from burgers, cupcakes, shushi,
etc., can be procured and eaten.
Now I want to introduce a new truck concept: The Book Truck.
Specifically The Billy Pilgrim Traveling Library based in Houston,
Texas.
The Billy Pilgrim Traveling Library is the project of Chris Grawl
and Kelly Allen.The pair has taken a library/bookstore combo and combined it with the food
truck concept, and named said truck after Kurt Vonnegut's character Billy
Pilgrim. With the truck, the duo intend to fill a need that libraries are not
currently funded for.
The book truck works as a traveling library that works on a
rent-barter-donate basis.
There is an annual membership fee, running $5 to $20 depending on
the plan chosen. The $5 annual charge allows one item to be checked
out, $20 allows five. There are no due dates, nor late fees.
Besides
items to check out, they plan on offering reference and research
services, wi-fi, a reservation system, mixtape trade, and book
clubs.
Funding for the book truck came partially from an
Indiegogo campaign, the rest out of Grawl's and Allen's pockets.
For the time being, the book truck will be found out and
about on weekends, with most emphasis on Fridays and Sundays.
For now the only set time to find The Billy Pilgrim Traveling
Library will be tonight, February 15
th from 5:30 - 9 pm
at the HEB Montrose Market Friday Food Truck meetup, in Houston, Tx, and will be
parking at HEB as often as the truck rotation will allow.
In future, the pair would like to schedule the book truck to
appear at other sites of culture, tried and true truck friendly
locations, museums, and coffee shops.
The Billy Pilgrim Traveling Library will accept donations –
books, CDs, DVDs, VHS, audio cassettes, vinyl, monetary gifts, or
volunteer time.
This entire endeavor reminds me of times when I was growing up
that my mother would take me to visit the book mobile that parked in
a parking lot close to where we lived. I would peruse the shelves and
carefully make my selections. The last clear memory I have of
checking something out from the book mobile, is checking out a book
on dinosaurs by E.L. Rey, creator of Curious George. Not too long
after these visits, they built a branch library.
In this day and age of diminishing budgets for libraries, I think
the book truck is a fantastic idea.
