Featured Resource
Title: Durham County Library's first bookmobile, 'Miss Kiwanis', with patrons
Date: 1926
Description: In 1923, the Durham Public Library became the owners of the first bookmobile in North Carolina. Named “Miss Kiwanis”, the blue Ford half-ton truck was a donation from the Durham chapter of the Kiwanis Club. Miss Kiwanis could hold up to 600 volumes and provided fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books to North Carolina residents through hundreds of stops at schools and homes.
The North Carolina Library Commission borrowed Miss Kiwanis in 1925 and brought her to several counties throughout North Carolina as a demonstration of the value of bookmobiles. The effort was an overwhelming success, and by the mid-1950s, North Carolina led the country in bookmobile service, with 101 bookmobiles serving 94 counties.
Part of: Transforming the Tar Heel State: The Legacy of Public Libraries in North Carolina, from the State Library of North Carolina. Learn more about the profound impact of public libraries on the development of North Carolina and her people. Visit the collection and view over 800 items including photographs, postcards, reports, and dedications.
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Last updated: 05/30/09 by SNCA Web Team