Summer reading is in full swing, and residents in Yellowstone County have options in finding their summer books. They can drive downtown to the Billings Public Library or the library can come to them.
The bookmobile brings most of the features of the library to where people live. Even in a digital-age, a bookmobile is an important service to the region.
It is mid-afternoon on a recent Monday, and the Billings Public Library’s bookmobile is parked at one of its regular locations at Morning Star Senior Living Center on Billings’ far west end.
Alice Unger is a regular when the bookmobile makes its stop at Morning Star. She said she looks for easy reads and interesting.
“I take enough books that if take something that’s not interesting it goes back in my bag and I return it unread,” Unger said. She usually leaves with six or seven books in her book bag.
The bookmobile has more than just paperbacks and hardbacks for the avid reader. It also has audiobooks, and that was what Patti Doble was looking for on her visit.
“I’m looking for books to listen to on a road trip," Doble said, “and also just some easy going books to read just for summer enjoyment.”
In this high tech age when a smartphone can be used to read a book, watch a movie, listen to music or audiobook, this bookmobile still has relevance, said Patti Skonicki, the bookmobile’s librarian.
“Not everyone is into the digital age,” Skonicki said. “There are a lot of people who still like to have a physical book to read. And not all of them can get down to the main library.”
Many of the books on the bookmobile come from the main library. Skonicki did say she has a relatively small budget to buy books specifically for the bookmobile, distinguishable by the small vehicle sticker. She
uses the money to order specific titles the bookmobile patrons ask for.
Skonicki drives the bookmobile all over Yellowstone County, with her farthest destination in Custer, 55 miles east of Billings.
“It is difficult for people out there to get into the main library,” said Skonicki. “They are all taxpayers who support the main library so they deserve to have library services.”
The bookmobile has everything the main library has including eBooks, internet access and tech support.
“I have a hot spot and I have a couple of I-Pads and a laptop,” Skonicki said. “You know if they have difficulties downloading something or they don’t know how to do it or they need help with a tablet, I can help with that, too.”
The bookmobile has a busy schedule, Monday through Friday, 12 months a year, making biweekly stops at senior centers, schools and other locations around the county, reaching out to those who have difficulties getting to the main library in downtown Billings.
