Often there are a few kids on the bus sitting on the floor or picking out the children's books from the bottom shelves (a smart arrangement -- kids don't have stretch and adults don't have to kneel).
But these days are over. Even though rural New Brunswick has abysmal literacy levels, the provincial government just pulled all three bookmobiles off the road. And for what? A savings of $170,000 per year. For that, three people lose their jobs and many New Brunswickers lose their access to library service (2000 people used the service). The books by mail program remains but is a poor substitute for the bookmobile.
In Albert County, we are fortunate to have a library in Hillsborough and another in Riverview. However, the bookmobile was the library for the residents living down country. Let's hope we can convince the government to keep this invaluable service.
The decision was made by Francine Landry, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour,
Contact Phone : (506) 453-2342, Fax : (506) 453-3038, Email : [email protected],
P. O. Box 6000, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5H1
Read the CBC article here.
Janet Wallace, www.janetwallace.ca