Surrey Libraries mobile service brings the library experience on wheels

Surrey Libraries is bringing library services to underserved areas and populations through its Mobile Library that travels all around the city. 

The library on wheels, which launched last year, offers more than 1,000 items to borrow. Its mission is to bring library services to visiting parks, recreation centres, food banks, settlement agencies, and homeless shelters, among other locations, Surrey Libraries’ website reads.

Mobile Library Coordinator Arshdeep Gill says some of the people the initiative serves are vulnerable, so the library offers both public and private monthly visits.

“Public visits are open to everyone and those are usually at rec centres or summers in the parks,” Gill says, adding the library tailors its collection depending on the stop it’s going to.

“For example, at certain stops, we have a lot of Arabic speakers, so we’ll try and bring a lot of Arabic books to that stop.”

The library on wheels provides DVDs, craft kits, and books in many genres such as adult fiction, graphic novels, and young adult. The Mobile Library also gives away materials such as activity packages, which contain brain teasers, crossword puzzles, and colouring pages for both adults and children.

“We [also] do a lot of take-and-make [kits]. For a bookmark, for example, we’ll put everything they would need to make that bookmark in a little package and we’ll give those away.” 

People will still require a library card to access library materials, Gill says. 

“Because we’re focusing on being low barrier, we can make your card without [an ID],” Gill says.

The library also organizes private visits to homeless shelters, women’s housing, and the food bank to serve vulnerable populations. 

One of the places the library visits monthly is Surrey’s Bill Reid Place. The location is a 16-bed shelter with 12-bachelor transition housing units for adults struggling with addiction and mental health issues, the Options Community Services website reads.

Due to the remote location of the facility, clients are not able to access their local library, says Marisca Yackimec, program manager at Bill Reid Place. The Mobile Library helps to bridge that gap by bringing the experience directly to their clients.

“The staff are very kind, very understanding,” Yackimec says.

“Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of trauma awareness with the homeless population. If somebody were to show up to a library [who is] actively in addiction or [struggling with] mental health and wants to access the library’s facilities, sometimes they are not greeted the most kindly.”

Avid book readers are very excited when the Mobile Library comes, Yackimec says. 

“They’ve got their new books and they have their afternoon snack and they’ll sit down in those beautiful common areas and enjoy a book.”

Giving the clients access to resources such as the Surrey Mobile Library is very beneficial to them, Yackimec says.

“[The Mobile Library] is just one of those things that you often take for granted — is just reading. It’s one of those barriers that we’re able to eliminate for people.”

For updates on community visits and more information about the Mobile Library, visit www.surreylibraries.ca/mobile-library.