See inside Indianapolis Public Library’s upgraded, accessible bookmobiles

The Indianapolis Public Library’s bookmobiles have been a crucial part of the library’s public outreach for nearly 75 years, but they recently got a much-needed upgrade to improve patron experiences and overall accessibility.

Bookmobiles are essentially a library branch on wheels. Almost all library services are available on board, from checking out books, movies, magazines, CDs and more as well as signing up for a library card, placing holds and more. They play a huge part in the library’s public outreach by bringing library services to people who can’t get to the library themselves or those who simply don’t have a branch nearby.

The Frog and Toad bookmobiles, aptly named for the beloved children’s book characters of the same names, were recently replaced with upgraded vehicles that are smaller in size, but ultimately more accessible to patrons.

“The main goal of our department is to bring the library to those who can’t get to the library,” Maggie Ward, manager of outreach services and volunteer resources at the Indianapolis Public Library said. “So we wanted to make sure our new bookmobiles were fitting into that of being more accessible.”

The new vehicles will allow bookmobiles to attend more events and be a part of parades, since they are more compact and easier to maneuver on the road.

New bookmobiles are more accessible

The manual wheelchair ramps make them accessible for patrons who previously were unable to get on board due to the steep, and sometimes unreliable, electric wheelchair ramps on the last ones.

“All of our wheelchair/walker-using patrons, anybody you know with mobility issues, have a lot easier time getting off the bookmobile,” Ward said.

“Even though they’re shorter and people have talked about ‘oh, it’s smaller’ and nuances aside, it’s so much better,” Amber Scott, driver and circulation clerk for Bookmobile Toad, said. “Like scouting new places, the first thing would be ‘can the vehicle fit’ and a lot of time it would be like there’s no place for us to park.”

These vehicles should also be a lot easier to maintain, meaning the bookmobiles will spend less time in the shop and more out in the community.

Frog and Toad bookmobiles cater to different age groups

Frog is the blue bookmobile and most often the selection on board caters to children and stops at daycares and preschools, while Toad, the green bookmobile, has books more geared toward adult readers and makes stops at senior living communities or neighborhoods without a library branch nearby.

Despite weather constraints, the bookmobiles can still bring the library experience to patrons in a way they couldn’t before.

On days too hot for patrons of senior communities or schools to come outside to the bookmobiles, the new ones are equipped with shelving units that can be removed and rolled inside.

“Last time we were scheduled for a visit, it was so hot, but we had missed a couple visits because we have our own weather policy that we won’t go if it’s too cold or hot because we don’t want people coming outside,” Scott said. “Since we have this now, we took three carts into their lobby and just set up with our laptop and the hot spot and everybody was there that we would usually see.”

“We only cancel if it’s extreme weather, but even then we’ll try to just do deliveries if we can,” Ward said.

The library has a small fleet of Ford Escapes to deliver holds and materials to patrons that they requested.

“We call them Itty Bitties,” Scott said.

Each bookmobile comes with a librarian

The Frog and Toad bookmobiles each have their own librarian on board to assist patrons and help provide a full library experience.

“We have a lot of patrons who tell us they schedule their day around us,” the librarian for bookmobile Toad Katie Watson-Juarez said. “We have residents who don’t really leave their rooms except to come out to the bookmobile because they love coming. That probably is one of the best parts is knowing people are so excited that we’re coming.”

Residents from one of bookmobile Toad’s stops at Rittenhouse Village Northside shared their favorite things about the visits.

“I think it’s a great system for the ease it makes for us,” resident Mark, who likes to read Western books, said. “I don’t have to go out and go to a library or something, even though it’s nice to do that. This is just an exception to that rule.”

“I like living here, but when you read you get to go somewhere else,” resident Tony — who likes to read detective novels and listen to jazz CDs — said.

That is one of the main reasons Brittney Spencer, celebrations director at Rittenhouse Village Northside put in the request for the bookmobile.

“It has opened the world up for them to be able to escape,” Spencer said. “My whole job is to try and get them to escape out of worries of like their health or anything like that, so it is great that they’re here and able to provide that for us.”

Getting people excited about reading is something both bookmobiles provide to the community.

“For some of these kids, this is their first ever experience with the library, because we visit a lot of preschools and stuff, so I mean just kind of showing them what a library is all about, getting them excited about it is kind of fun,” Kathleen Stewart said.

The bookmobiles are in high demand as there is currently a waitlist to be included in their routes. They operate on a biweekly schedule, visiting the same spots every two weeks.

And it doesn’t take a library card to enjoy the bookmobiles. They have books not in circulation available to readers without library cards to read and return.

The new bookmobile Toad started being used on June 1, while Bookmobile Frog has only been up-and-running since June 29, so the excitement of the new vehicles is still very fresh for the library staff as well as their patrons.

“I just love the versatility of these as opposed to our other ones,” Stewart said. “There’s so much we can do with it.”

Libraries are more than just a place to checkout books. They provide resources, services and often act as a community space for people to connect outside of home and work, which is something even the bookmobiles are able to provide.

“We’re bringing that third space to them, that connection,” Ward said. “So it’s more than just the books, it’s that community connection.”

Katie Wiseman covers trending news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Contact her at klwiseman@indystar.com. Follow her on Bluesky, Twitter and Instagram.