For kids in Park City and the surrounding areas, summer is full of outdoor activities and non-stop adventure. When you're looking for a quiet afternoon or an indoor activity for rainy days, however, reading is the way to go. Peel your children away from their screens and take a stroll through the infinite realms of the imagination with the Summit County Library's Bookmobile, the traveling library that comes to you. 

Housed inside a large trailer with murals painted on the sides and indoor walls, the roving library is full of shelves stocked with a wide selection of books for kids of all ages to borrow. Although its history goes back to the mid-1970s, the Bookmobile as we know it today first arrived in 2009 when a new vehicle arrived and was painted by local artist Sarah Holden. Throughout its time, the number one priority of the Bookmobile is accessibility (hence the wheels) and it frequents a number of locations throughout the county, from the popular Park City Farmer's Market and McPolin Elementary to the more rural Henefer City Park and Francis City Park. “The BookMobile allows kids who have no way of accessing a library to have one they can visit every two weeks and borrow from," explains Shaylee Phelps, an outreach services librarian for Summit County Library who heads the Bookmobile. “It’s really fun to see the kids come in and get excited about reading when they normally don’t have a chance to go to a library." Of course, the Bookmobile doesn't just cater to children, it also offers delivery and home-bound services that can benefit older adults. These small conveniences make it much easier to encourage everyone to pick up a book.

So what might you find in the Bookmobile? Peruse the shelves and you're likely to run into the Divergent series, A Bear Called Paddington, Eragon, and many others in a wide range of genres and reading levels. You can even pick out the book you want next before the Bookmobile arrives thanks to the search option on the library's online catalog. Books borrowed from the Bookmobile can be returned to the Bookmobile itself or any Summit County Library location. The Bookmobile also has a display out front selling used books for cheap with all proceeds going to benefit the Summit Country Library.

Once school is back in session, the Bookmobile will continue making its rounds to schools around the county. In the meantime, it’s a great way to show kids that summer reading doesn’t have to be mandatory or dull. You can check out the schedule here and make visits to the Bookmobile a highlight of the week for your kids!