Millersville’s campus was granted access to step into tons of different worlds on Sept. 18. The Bookmobile from the Library System of Lancaster County, which has been in use since the 1940s, began its journey to Millersville.
Students had access from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. to step inside and look through materials. For me, I went and not only got to check out “Not Quite Dead Yet” by Holly Jackson, but I was also able to register for a library card within the Lancaster County system.
Melissa Gold, a librarian at Millersville, made me aware of just how many benefits there are to utilizing the Bookmobile.
“You don’t have to pay for books through the Bookmobile. You get to keep them for a month, which is actually longer than the normal public libraries in the area, usually their checkout is two weeks. So these, you do get to keep a month, which is nice,” Gold said. “They also have a lot of online content and they have access to Libby, which is audiobooks and online books. I know they have some DVDs as well.”
While there are books available through the McNairy library, opportunities such as these allow for students to access more books unrelated to academics.
“We brought the Bookmobile to support leisure reading, because we’re unable to support it at the university library, because our mission is really to support the curriculum,” Gold said. “So unless there’s a pop fiction class or a graphic novel class, we don’t tend to have those materials, and we don’t have the budget for it.”
Reading for pleasure has started to decline for Americans. The Bookmobile is an important debut on Millersville’s campus because it gives students easy access to find something they will be interested in reading, according to Audrey Lilley, the Bookmobile Coordinator at the Library System of Lancaster County.
“We really want to make sure that students have access to not only books for school, but books for reading, for pleasure and for leisure. It’s such a great way to unwind, to learn about new things, just to kind of relax and get out of the kind of school mindset, just to be able to have some time where you can read for pleasure,” Lilley says. “It’s a great way to also keep your mind sharp, keep you thinking about puzzles and brain teasers, and just to kind of keep challenging yourself also with learning new things and ideas.”
Those who want to support the Bookmobile and support the library can contribute by “getting a library card, using your library card, and even if you could donate, reading through the of the Bookmobile, getting onto Libby, which is a way that you can download an app and use your library barcode to find other reading materials if you read on a Kindle, any kind of device,” says Lilley. “You can also use your phone and listen to audiobooks. So there’s a lot of different ways, too. If reading print isn’t easy for you, you can adjust the font size and make it really accessible.”
The Bookmobile is set to make its return to Millersville’s campus every third Thursday throughout the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters.
