PADUCAH — The McCracken County Brary Bus is hitting the road again. After a brief hiatus for upgrades, the bookmobile is starting its first month of stops.
Now, all the services offered in the library will be available on the go, including Wi-Fi.
A few women from The Neighborhood at Paducah assisted living facility came out to see the new and improved McCracken County Brary Bus.
Ashley Doughty, the coordinator for the mobile library, says it’s making stops at every nursing home within the city limits.
“My number one goal is to get it out to people who cannot physically get to the library,” Doughty says.
Accessibility is the main focus. Serving McCracken County and 15 other surrounding counties, library-goers could be traveling distances upwards of 70 miles one way. So, Doughty is setting multiple locations to cut down on travel time.
“I have one in the Paducah Athletic Club coming up, so that patrons that maybe live in a county over like Ballard or Carlisle, they don’t have to drive all the way into Paducah,” says Doughty.
Director Justin Brasher says their goal is to have everything that’s available at the permanent location available at the Brary Bus.
“We have card registration if you don’t have a library card already. We offer books, movies, tv shows,” says Brasher.
That also includes internet access. The bus is now fully equipped as a Wi-Fi hotspot to provide internet access anytime, anywhere.
“When you don’t have internet at home, having that internet access is absolutely vital. And being able to bring that to farmer’s markets, being able to bring it to communities that don’t normally have Wi-Fi,” says Brasher.
The bus can be booked for events and will allow access to the mobile Wi-Fi for free, or you can catch the bus at one of its many stops. The username and password are posted inside the vehicle.
They want the bus to be a tool for the community.
“I want people to know that if you’re feeling underserved by the library, then we can make it happen,” Doughty says.
The library is asking for feedback so it can make changes to best suit the needs of the public.
The Brary Bus is scheduled to run through the fall season.
You can view the full schedule and find contact information to book the Brary Bus on the library’s website.
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