SANTA ANA : Checking Out Mobile Libraries

Like many of the students at Edison Elementary School, Lupe Osorio, 9, has never been to the local library because it’s too far to walk. But that doesn’t stop her from getting all the books she wants: The library comes to her.

Standing inside a 35-foot-long bookmobile trailer crammed with shelves of books and magazines, Lupe said she loves to read.

“If they didn’t come, I’d be sad,” she said after giving the librarian a Valentine’s Day card thanking her for coming to the school.

Lupe was one of more than 45 students who lined up after school to check out books.

As part of a program started in 1961, the Santa Ana Library reaches out to the community using mobile libraries designed to encourage students and other residents to take advantage of library services. The program costs about $620,000 a year, spokeswoman Cathy Spencer said.

During the 1992-93 fiscal year, the mobile libraries circulated 272,000 books, making it the second busiest program in the state. Only the Los Angeles city library system, which has three times as many bookmobiles, had a higher circulation, she said.

“It’s one of the best innovations the library’s ever done, “ said Margy Treen, 54, after checking out a dozen books. “I use it every week.”

The bookmobile offers the same services as the main library. Students and other patrons can get library cards, check out books, videos and audiocassettes, and pay overdue book penalties. The library’s two bookmobiles serve 30 locations citywide each week, Librarian Chris Maynard said.

Sitting at a small desk inside the bookmobile, Maynard stamped children’s selections with a sticker telling the books’ due date. During a brief lull, she said that many of the bookmobile’s patrons would not have library services if it weren’t for the program.

For many residents, including children and the elderly, the library is hard to reach. Others sometimes don’t realize services are free, she said.

During her visit, Lupe gathered 21 children’s books she planned to read over the next two weeks. Being able to read books along with her younger brothers helps them learn to read, she said, adding: “It’s important. It makes me feel good.”