By Adam Donnelly

TNRD Bookmobile for Sale

Apr 13, 2018 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s brought the library to thousands of residents of the Thompson Nicola Regional District, but soon it could be yours. The TNRD is awaiting completion of their new mobile library truck – which means they’re selling the old Bookmobile in a closed bid auction next week. CFJC News went down to the garage at the North Kamloops Library to get a look at the old girl and see what she’s got to offer her new owners.

For the past 17 years, it’s served rural communities from Avola to Loon Lake.

“I always say nobody is unhappy to see the Bookmobile,” Mike Brown said, as he navigated the bus through the streets of the North Shore.

The old TNRD Bookmobile is for sale, via a sealed bid auction with the minimum bid set at $7500. According to Brown, while the Library part of the unit is still in good shape, the engine needs some work; that doesn’t mean it’s not worth selling.

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“You could do a ton of stuff with this thing,” Brown said. “It’s got a 10,000-watt generator attached to it, which could power a small city.”

A replacement for the old girl is currently under construction but isn’t quite ready yet. Once library staff take possession of the new unit, they plan to expand the reach of the mobile library, as well as the services they’re able to deliver.

“We’re going to have new stops throughout the TNRD,” Head of Outreach Services for the TNRD Library system Jenny Abramzik told CFJC Today. “There’s another stop near Walhachin, we’re heading to Lac Le Jeune, we’re going to be heading to Lower Nicola and Quilchena, and also some new stops within town.”

With the old Bookmobile off the road, there are likely many patrons of the service missing their usual visits.

“Before this thing came off the road, we were the fourth highest circulating library in the system,” Brown said. “There were only three libraries ahead of us, and they’re pretty big libraries. So this thing punches above its weight, big time.”

Bids on the former Bookmobile are due by April 17th, 2018. For more information on the vehicle, you can click here.