Outreach Department librarian Mandy Pinyan and courier George Channell prepare to board the BookMobile, a service of Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON COUNTY – Huntsville-Madison County Public Library has unveiled a new BookMobile to better serve communities in Madison County.

“There’s a new BookMobile in town, and it’s coming soon to a school, community center, nursing home, outdoor festival or parade near you,” Communications Director Ann Marie Martin said.

The BookMobile is “a rolling branch of your Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. It offers bestsellers, fiction, nonfiction, DVDs, music CDs, children’s materials, large-print books and more — a wide sample of the items you can find at any of our 12 branch library buildings,” Martin said.

The library on wheels is a new 2015 Ford Transit. A grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) in part funded the vehicle.

“But the van didn’t become a BookMobile overnight. First, it had to be customized to serve the needs of our library users with traveling shelves, a ramp for easy loading and unloading, a retractable awning for shade and mobile Wi-Fi,” Martin said.

“Then, we decorated it with a colorful landscape with wrapping courtesy of ShaBob Signs. Everyone who sees it will know there’s lots of reading fun on board,” she said.

The next big stop for the BookMobile is Summer Reading Field Day for Kids on July 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Big Spring International Park. All 12 branches of the library system will celebrate young readers’ Summer Reading accomplishments with a party featuring games, prizes, food and more.

“Whenever you see the BookMobile in action, let your friends know on social media, and share your photos with us on Instagram by using #LibraryOnWheels,” Martin said.

The BookMobile will visit community groups in Madison County. To schedule a visit, call the library’s Outreach Department at 256-532-5961 or email outreach@hmcpl.org.

The library staff is asking local businesses to help fuel the BookMobile with plenty of books and other materials. In exchange for a company’s sponsorship of literacy, the library will display the company’s logo on the back of the BookMobile. To become a sponsor, email foundation@hmcpl.org.

For more information, call 256-532-2361 or visit hmcpl.org or Facebook/HMCPL.