From 'Love Kitten' to child literacy. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CNN) -- At age 19, Yohannes Gebregeorgis borrowed a soft-cover romance novel entitled "Love Kitten" that changed his life forever.
"I just wanted to come back to Ethiopia and help children have a future, have hope," Yohannes Gebregeorgis says. Born in rural Ethiopia to an illiterate cattle merchant who insisted upon his son's education, Gebregeorgis had seen a few books in school. But it was the experience of having a book of his own that sparked a lifelong commitment. Today, at 56, Gebregeorgis is establishing libraries and literacy programs to connect Ethiopian children with books. "Most Ethiopian children have only access to textbooks in the classroom," says Gebregeorgis. It wasn't until he became a children's librarian in the United States that he realized what the children of his native home were missing.
There, he met "The Little Engine That Could," "Captain Ahab" and "Peter Pan. " So he wrote one. Today, Ethiopia Reads is doing just that. Libraries phase out bookmobiles - Orange County Register. Libraries phase out bookmobiles NO MORE SEQUELS: Brian Terrones, 13, visits the bookmobile on its final day.
Leonard Ortiz, The Register SANTA ANA - The nation's bookmobiles are slowly going the way of the dinosaurs, killed off not by meteors, but by new technology and rising fuel prices. On Thursday, Santa Ana became the latest city to say goodbye to the bookmobile, citing high costs and relatively low patronage. "Times have changed and people are using libraries differently," Santa Ana Library Director Rob Richard said. Until Thursday, Santa Ana was one of only three Orange County cities with regular bookmobile routes. Across the nation, the number of bookmobiles in service declined from 997 to 864 between 1994 and 2003, even though the number of libraries grew, according to federal data. With more patrons using electronic data services and checking out fewer books, Richard said the library is changing its focus.
Bookmobiles roll out for library convention - Orange County Register. Bookmobiles roll out for library convention BOOKS IN A BLUR: The Riverside County Public Library bookmobile swooshes down Katella Ave. in a parade as part of the American Library Association meeting at The Anaheim Convention Center.
Library facts •The average user checks out seven-plus books a year. •Seventy-three percent of public libraries were the only source of free public access to computers and the Internet in their communities, according to a 2007 study. •Ninety-six percent of all U.S. school districts say that at least some of their teachers assign homework that requires Internet use. Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs. Donkeys boost Ethiopian literacy. In a bamboo and matting shelter on the edge of the town of Awassa, rows of tiny children are struggling with Ethiopia's fiendishly complicated Amharic alphabet.
"Huh - HUH! Hoo - HOO! The excitement created by the Morse Library’s bookmobile is palpable - Natick, Massachusetts - Natick Bulletin and Tab. NM Bookmobiles: Books For Those Without Libraries. Tom Corwin celebrates reading with bookmobile. Pulling away from the Cafe Flore on Market Street, San Francisco author Daniel Handler feels all the power and the weight of the 33-foot-long bookmobile as he cajoles it up the Market Street hill en route to his childhood library branch at West Portal.
Unused to navigating large vehicles - "I've never even driven an SUV" - he is remarkably calm as he chugs through traffic on a recent afternoon. "My wife made me promise not to do anything that would result in the headline 'Author Dies in Unfortunate Event,' " says the characteristically deadpan, pen-named author of Lemony Snicket's 13-volume orphan saga, "A Series of Unfortunate Events. " Except for one scarily sharp right turn with an inch- and-a-half clearance between the back wheel and a parked Toyota, Handler keeps his promise without breaking a sweat. Corwin has raised about half the money he needs to make his film. Once inside, he goes over to the "S" shelves, where her books - and his - are displayed. The man turned out to be W. Book Mobiles. From NPR, a new program to deliver books to Seattlites via bike.
By the loading dock of Seattle's downtown library, librarian Jared Mills checks his tire pressure, secures his iPads and locks down about 100 books to an aluminum trailer the size of a steamer trunk. The scene is reminiscent of something you'd see in an action movie, when the hero is gearing up for a big fight, but Mills is gearing up for something very different. "If you're not prepared and don't have a lot of experience hauling a trailer, it can be kind of dangerous," Mills says, especially when you're going downhill. "The trailer can hold up to 500 pounds. " Mills is part of Seattle Public Library's Books on Bikes program, which aims to keep the library nimble and relevant by sending librarians and their bicycles to popular community events around Seattle.
After a hilly, 5-mile bike ride to a local farmers market, Mills sets up shop among the fruit and vegetable booths.