New ice cream van-style mobile libraries hit road

"One little boy thinking I was an ice cream van, when he saw the books he was overjoyed."

A new chapter has begun for Derbyshire's mobile library service with two new vans heading out across the county.

The Peugeot Boxer vans have replaced two lorries which Derbyshire County Council said were in "poor condition" and regularly out of action awaiting repairs.

Their reduced size means smaller roads can be used by the mobile libraries to visit new communities, while drivers no longer need to have an HGV licence.

This has meant the vacancy for a driver to serve the southern half of the county -which had been advertised for more than a year - has now been filled by Rob Davenport who said the job was "an absolute dream".

The 39-year-old former postal worker said: "When I initially applied for the job I was probably like quite few people my age where they wouldn't have ever expected that a mobile library service was still a thing.

"But any worries that a mobile library service wouldn't be in demand still has just been blown out the water because it's been so busy for the first month-and-a-half that we've been back on the road.

"I've seen new people sign up, I've had one little boy come out of his house thinking I was an ice cream van, and although there was an initial disappointment that I had no ice cream, when he saw the books he was overjoyed with it and his mum brought him on and signed him up and he took away books that day.

"To see people come on board and actually get excited about books, it's lovely. I've fallen back in love with reading again."

Derbyshire County Council said the two new mobile library vans were "more reliable, economical and efficient to run".

While the amount of stock on board is reduced, the new vans carry laptops so library users can browse the entire stock of Derbyshire's libraries and request books to be brought to them.

Library manager Ruth Sharpe said: "It is so much more up-to-date, it's got all of the mod cons on like reversing you've got a camera instead of just having beeping noises.

"It looks so nice as well, especially with the purple bonnet - that's my personal favourite aspect.

"It's been incredibly popular. Our top number of visits on one day at one stop so far is 38 people so we're really, really pleased with that.

"I think the driver was a bit worn out at the end of the day."

The new vans are smaller and more "agile" so timetables have been changed for the first time in more than a decade, the council said.

By removing unused stops and combining others, 30 new stops have been added.

Now 179 locations in 139 towns and villages are served, with each getting at least half an hour of library use.

Davenport said: "It was a little bit daunting at first but now that I've got used to a few Derbyshire village roads which are a bit dicey it's been really good.

"People sometimes see you turn up and they're surprised because these vans mean that you can get to locations that you couldn't do before."

Councillor Carol Wood said feedback had been "very positive".

"This is really great news for book lovers, especially those who don't live near a library or struggle to get to one, and it's especially exciting to be launching this during the National Year of Reading," she said.

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