Title supplied by cataloger. As early as 1949 these bookmobiles, or "libraries on wheels", began taking books to the mostly disadvantaged, low-income areas, or the outlying sections of the city where community libraries had not been established. The Los Angeles Public Library's fleet of bookmobiles was comprised of 3 large vans usually loaded with 4,000 books, and a smaller one known as "Little Toot" that usually carried 3,000 books. They had 28 scheduled stops each week to such places as housing developments, shopping centers, parks, and schools that varied anywhere from an hour to three hours. It is estimated that these Traveling Branches circulated almost 250,000 volumes a year. Several children are helped into one of the Los Angeles Public Library Bookmobiles that is parked at an unidentified location by a woman, possibly the bookmobile's traveling librarian. The children eagerly climb in a single-file line and will soon browse through the numerous shelves of the books. An open flap exposes even more books on the outer side of the bookmobile.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
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