To properly celebrate National Bookmobile Day next week, the San Francisco Public Library has put together an online contest that ends with a big prize.
National Bookmobile Day is next Wednesday and the SFPL has launched an online scavenger hunt starting Friday, which continues through April 16, according to library spokeswoman Michelle Jeffers.
The contest will feature the library’s “Green Bookmobile”–the latest addition to the fleet of four other roving libraries.
Throughout the contest the library will post a photograph on its homepage with visual clues of the vehicle’s location at one of six iconic San Francisco landmarks.
Guesses as to where the mobile library is hanging out in the city can be submitted once per day.
For every correct answer, patrons will be entered into a drawing to win a two-hour visit from the bookmobile at the location of their choice.
“The bookmobile is as much a San Francisco landmark as anything else,” Jeffers said.
The new “green” book truck runs on 20 percent biodiesel fuel and was custom-made last year through a partnership with the city’s Department of the Environment, according to Jeffers.
On board the bookmobile are the “green stacks” featuring environmentally-themed books, Jeffers said.
National Bookmobile Day launched three years ago as a celebration of the service for people who can’t get to a library branch.
San Francisco hosted the nationwide kickoff celebration in 2010 during which San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu drove the bookmobile around, ditching his normal bicycle for the 30-foot vehicle.
Jeffers said the city’s bookmobiles tend to serve areas with underserved youth populations and near senior centers for those with limited mobility.
National Library Week will be celebrated Sunday through April 14.
Throughout the month of April the library encourages community members to celebrate bookmobiles and will be offering prizes including a bookmobile-flavored lip balm and a bookmobile coloring sheet to those who track down and board the mobile libraries.
To find the locations of the bookmobiles visit sfpl.org/bookmobile.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
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