CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Public Library system has retired its Mobile Library vehicle due to maintenance problems.
The library system bought the vehicle in 2010 to serve people in various communities.
According to Regional Manager Anthony DeMinico, the vehicle had multiple problems during its run, including minor part failures and electrical issues.
“It adds up,” he told WCHS-AM on Monday. “Over the last couple of months, it feels as though the bookmobile has been in the shop more than it has been on the road.”
The library system purchased the vehicle from a now-closed company. DeMinico said the company had the design plans for the unique vehicle, which creates problems in getting it repaired by consumer vehicle service centers.
“We ran into an issue where we couldn’t power the motor that powers the stairs,” he said. “That problem right there required hours of manhours just to go through and check the connections on every wire because a chart didn’t exist. In order to do some of these repairs on a permanent level, we would be looking at a lot of time in general just to try to narrow them down, try to find a permanent solution. And it would then mean more time that the bookmobile is not on the road and more money going into it with the hope that it will solve the issue.”
DeMinico said officials are reviewing its options to reach out to people who do not live near a library branch.
“We’ve been looking at various delivery options for library materials, pop-up libraries and other vehicle options to help offset this for the time being until a new Bookmobile has been acquired,” he said.
The library system on Monday said there are plans to replace the Mobile Library with a smaller vehicle.