JB MDL Bookmobile

JB MDL community members will now have access to more than 4,000 books, videos, CDs, audio books and other material as a result of a partnership between the Burlington County "Library on Wheels" and JB MDL Library. The mobile library will visit the Falcon Courts North, Jim Saxton Community Center every Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. (courtesy photo)

Mobile library comes to JB MDL

Published July 21, 2010
By Pascual Flores
JB MDL Public Affairs Office

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- A recent initiative from the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst library and the Burlington County library System makes leisure reading easier for Falcon Court North residents.

Approximately 100 residents of Falcon Courts North attended the inaugural visit of Burlington County's 40-foot "Library on Wheels" at the Jim Saxton Community Center July 1.

The partnership with the Burlington County bookmobile and JB MDL library provides an additional service to servicemembers and their families since the closure of the Fort Dix library a couple of years ago.

"We became the joint base's only library," said JB MDL Library Director Mimi Cirillo. "The use of the bookmobile will actually supplement our ability to reach out to our community members."

Stopping at more than 20 locations, the bookmobile offers access to more than 4,000 books, videos, CDs, audio books and other material and is scheduled to visit the Jim Saxton Community Center every Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m.

"Public libraries are funded by the community and have more resources available, they have millions of resources that the joint base does not," said Cirillo.

"The bookmobile reached out to 'moms who don't drive' and the mixture of servicemembers families who reside at the Falcon Courts North," she said.

The partnership with the Burlington County Library System and the JB MDL library is unique.

"We have a partnership that has never been done on any installation or in New Jersey, a first time for coming to a military installation," said Cirillo.

"We are not in competition, but are two services trying to do the best for the community," Cirillo added.

The bookmobile program is nearly as old as the county library. Its roots date from 1923, when it operated out of a modest truck with the words "Burlington County Free Library" printed on the door, said Bookmobile coordinator Paula Manzella. By the 1960s, the program included two trucks. And in the 1980s they were replaced by one large vehicle.

In 2004 the Burlington County Board of Freeholders bought the 40-foot bus, equipped with a lift to accommodate handicapped individuals, which is the largest bookmobile to serve county residents, Manzella said.